Mario Montaño is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Colorado College. He is a cultural anthropologist and folklorist specializing in the anthropology of food and food’s relationship to cultures, identities, and systems of power. His research has primarily focused on the Texas-Mexico border and the northern region of Mexico, and has been featured in the L.A. Times and the Christian Science Monitor. In 2020, the American Folklore Society awarded Dr. Montaño with the Américo Paredes Prize which recognizes excellence in integrating scholarship and engagement with the people and communities one studies, or in teaching and encouraging scholars and practitioners to work in their own cultures or communities. Montaño’s work throughout his career has been actively engaged in both areas. The bilingual Smithsonian exhibition El Rio: Culture and Environment in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin (February – April 2003) was based on his field course about the Rio Grande watershed.  Prior to his retirement in 2020, Montaño introduced students to foodways and food systems through engagement with communities in the Rio Grande River region, Colorado, New Mexico, Costa Rica, and Oaxaca. He also encouraged students to critically examine their own traditional foodways as he has done through his scholarship.  

Dr. Montaño also provided exemplary leadership for various CC academic programs including Anthropology, Race and Ethnic Studies, Spanish, and Molecular Biology. Many  faculty remember and appreciate his supportive mentorship as they began their work at Colorado College. Throughout his career, Montaño worked to make Colorado College a more collegial and inclusive community for all. Many students of color at CC particularly appreciated his role as a model and mentor for their own work.  

Class of 96’ alumni Nancy Hernández (UCCS Director of Pre-Collegiate Support and Success Center), Murphy Brasuel (Associate Professor of Chemistry at CC), and Cristina Brasuel (RDH at Pinnacle Dentistry) have worked with the CC Career Center to develop the Food Justice Fellowship in honor of Mario Montaño’s commitment to food justice and student success. The Mario Montaño Fund for Food Justice Fellowships will fund summer or year-long internships at food justice non-profits through CC’s Public Internship Fellowship Program (PIFP). Food Justice non-profits are those who work on local, national, or international issues related to the production and distribution of food in communities with poor access to quality foods or those that address economies and traditions that have been decimated. This includes non-profits who address the impact of food and nutrition on chronic health issues such as diabetes and cancer.  

Donate to the Mario Montaño Fund for Food Justice Fellowships