Gerald Roland Vela Múzquiz was born in Eagle Pass, Texas on September 18, 1927 to Marcial Vela Bermea and Maria de Guadalupe Múzquiz de Vela. He attended public schools in San Antonio, Texas, until April 1945 when he volunteered for service in the United States Navy. He was honorably discharged as Seaman First Class in July of 1946, Vela returned to San Antonio. In 1950, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1951 a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in bacteriology and with a minor in chemistry. During the time, he supported himself financially by working at various jobs including night orderly at a hospital, auto mechanic, insurance salesman, waiter, cook, construction laborer, and laboratory tutor in microbiology. From 1952 to 1954 he worked as director of a vaccine production laboratory for a private company and from 1955 to 1957 he was a staff scientist at Harvard University.
In 1953 he married Emma Lamar Codina Longoria of Mission, Texas with whom he raised four children: Gerald Roland, Anna Maria, Yolanda Marta, and Jaime Joel, born in 1954, 1956, 1958 and 1961. From Fall 1959 to Summer 1964 he was one of six Latino professional employees in the ATC, USAF Aerospace Medical Center, School of Aerospace Medicine, at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He returned to the University of Texas in 1960 and was awarded the doctorate in Microbiology and Biochemistry in January 1963. The supervising professor in microbiology was Dr. Orville Wyss, his minor professor in biochemistry was Dr. William Shive, and his committee members included: Drs. Jackson W. Foster, Vernon T. Schuhardt, and Roger L. Stark. Vela started his position at then Teacher’s State College in September 1965 and left in June 2000 (served as a faculty member for 35 years). He was also a member of the Denton Forum, a “philosophical society” that was reorganized in 1931 from the Denton Men’s Forum, from 1966 to 2003. The Denton Forum started out as a men’s only society, later accepting and inducting women in 1979.
In 1993, Vela organized an annual Hispanic Conference dedicated to the education of Latino/a students that met until 2003 or 2004 and later became known as the Hispanic Friends of the University of North Texas.
Vela is a native Texan, descendent of Spanish settlers who arrived in San Antonio ca 1719 (maternal) and the Rio Grande Valley, ca 1740 (paternal). He is bilingual and bicultural by virtue of having attended schools in San Antonio Public Schools while living in a Spanish-speaking community with a strong Mexican cultural heritage. His ability in Spanish includes reading and writing as well as certain knowledge of cultures of Mexico, Colombia, and Spain, and the literature of the Hispanic world.
His interests include: chess, literature, photography, history, music, and flying. Vela has participated extensively in politics in Denton, including two terms as Chairman of the Airport Board, one term on the Denton City Council, six terms on the Board of Directors of the Texas Municipal Power Agency, two terms on the Board of Directors for the Flow Foundation, and many other city commissions and boards. After retiring from his professorship at the University of North Texas after thirty four years of service, Vela has directed numerous graduate students and is a past member of the American Society for Microbiology and is in the process of writing two books.
Author: Gerald Roland Vela Múzquiz
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