Victor Garcia was a Professor of Anthropology at IUP for 30 years. In this role, he served the field of anthropology and the Latino community as a cultural anthropologist, Distinguished University Professor, director of the Mid-Atlantic Research and Training Institute for Community and Behavioral Health (MARTI-CBH), and founder of the Caring About Latinos Student Achievement Program (originally College Prep 101 for Latinos). Through his work at IUP, he cultivated a sense of belonging and purpose for his students and junior faculty. As an ethnographic researcher, he not only advanced the field of anthropology and the transnational study of Latino immigrants and farmworkers, but he also engaged deeply in his research communities. Garcia fostered the research careers of many students, especially first-generation students. He mentored students closely, brought them into his projects, and often hired them as research assistants so they could learn by doing. He was not just a researcher himself, but also helped create and inspire other researchers.
Garcia earned his PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and master’s degree in Latin American studies from Stanford University. At IUP, he taught classes on Cultural Anthropology, Ethnographic Field Methods, Latin America, and Latinos and Latin American Diasporas. Over the years, Garcia’s research centered on Mexican immigrant and migrant farmworkers, as well as other Latino immigrant populations in the United States. He also focused on the educational plight of Latino students, particularly the second generation, and the barriers faced in attending university. Garcia conducted research on Latino populations in California, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Mexico. His research was funded by a number of sources, among them the US Census Bureau, US Department of Education, US Department of Agriculture, and the National Institutes of Health. A major goal of his efforts involved the development of methodologies for studying hard-to-find and difficult-to-study populations, agriculture and labor issues, and substance use disorders (SUDs) and treatment use among Mexican farmworkers and day laborers.
As a result of his research, Garcia co-authored a book on Latinos and education and published several articles on how ethnographic field schools can be used to recruit Latinos to the university. He also published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Human Organization, Open Anthropology, Journal of Rural Health, Journal of Hispanic Education, Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, and Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery. A history of Victor Garcia’s publications and scholarly work can be found at the MARTI-CBH website.
Victor Garcia passed on December 6, 2024. His obituary, testimonials from his colleagues, students, friends and family, and photos throughout his life and career can be found on his memorial website.