Arturo Islas

Arturo Islas (May 25, 1938 – February 15, 1991), a native of El Paso, Texas, was a professor of English and a novelist, writing about the experience of Chicano cultural duality. He received three degrees from Stanford: a B.A. in 1960, a Masters in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1971, when he joined the Stanford faculty. Islas was the first Chicano in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in English. In 1976, he became the first Chicano faculty member to receive tenure at Stanford. Islas died on February 15, 1991 from complications related to AIDS.