The Georgetown University community and the wider academic world are mourning the loss of Professor Ricardo L. Ortiz, a distinguished scholar, teacher, and mentor who passed away in 2025.
Professor Ortiz served as Professor of U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures in Georgetown’s Department of English and was also the Director of the MA Program in Engaged and Public Humanities. His career reflected a deep commitment to scholarship, teaching, leadership, and service, and his passing leaves an irreplaceable void for his students, colleagues, and the countless communities he touched.
Professor Ortiz was a beloved member of Georgetown for over 25 years. He joined the English Department in 1998 and quickly established himself as a leader and innovator in both research and teaching. He earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2005, followed by his promotion to Full Professor in 2021.
From 2015 to 2021, he served with distinction as Department Chair, and earlier as Director of Graduate Studies in English from 2008 to 2014. His leadership guided the department through periods of growth and transition, always with an emphasis on inclusivity, intellectual rigor, and care for students and colleagues alike.
A prolific and widely respected scholar, Professor Ortiz specialized in U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures, but his expertise extended broadly to hemispheric and transnational Americas Studies, critical and cultural theory, race, gender and queer theory, intellectual history, and public humanities.
His groundbreaking first book, Cultural Erotics in Cuban America (University of Minnesota Press, 2007), received Honorable Mention for the Modern Language Association’s Alan Bray Book Prize, recognizing its major contribution to Queer Literary and Cultural Studies. His second book, Latinx Literature Now: Between Evanescence and Event (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), cemented his reputation as one of the foremost voices in Latinx literary scholarship.
In recent years, Professor Ortiz continued to shape the field with essays and reviews in leading journals including South Atlantic Review, Aztlán, Hispanic Review, and Latino Studies.
He contributed to edited volumes such as Latinx Literature in Transition and American Studies Overseas: Narrating Multiple Americas, while also publishing in widely read public forums like The Los Angeles Review of Books and Latinx Talk. In 2025, he served as guest editor for a special issue of Public Humanities (Cambridge University Press) titled “Public Humanities in Action”, reflecting his dedication to bridging scholarship and community engagement.
Beyond his research, Professor Ortiz was deeply invested in academic service and professional leadership. He served as President of the Association of Departments of English (ADE) in 2022, following three years on its Executive Committee. Within the Modern Language Association, he chaired multiple committees, including those on Gay Studies in Language and Literature, Literatures of People of Color, and Honors and Awards. His influence extended nationally through his work with the Latino Studies Association, where he helped organize the 2018 national conference in Washington, DC.
At Georgetown, Professor Ortiz was instrumental in shaping the Humanities: Arts, Literature, and Culture (HALC) core curriculum, serving as Chair of the HALC Committee. Along with Professor Nicoletta Pireddu, he co-directed a Teagle Foundation grant project, “Active Reading, Active Knowing: Humanities Pathways at Georgetown,” exemplifying his lifelong mission to strengthen the role of the humanities in higher education.
Professor Ortiz’s commitment to public service extended beyond the university. From 2010 to 2019, he collaborated with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, offering enrichment programs for fellows and interns, thereby mentoring future generations of Latino leaders. Earlier, he also held the Joseph A. Bailey II, MD, Endowed Chair in American Communities at California State University, Los Angeles, where he directed the American Communities Program.
Born in Cuba in 1961, Professor Ortiz emigrated with his family in 1966 and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente before earning his BA in English and Economics at Stanford University (1983), followed by an MA (1987) and PhD (1992) in English from UCLA. Prior to Georgetown, he taught at San José State University and Dartmouth College.
Professor Ricardo L. Ortiz will be remembered not only as an extraordinary scholar but also as a generous mentor, colleague, and friend. His intellectual brilliance was matched by his warmth, humility, and unwavering commitment to justice and equity. His legacy will live on through his writings, his students, and the many lives he transformed through his teaching and mentorship.
