UW-Madison Grad Celebrates Degree 50 Years Later

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is recognizing one graduate 50 years after he received his degree.

Luciano Barraza earned his doctorate in agricultural economics in 1967, but he never got to walk at graduation before returning to his home in Mexico to work for Banco de México in Mexico City.

“I couldn’t afford not to keep working,” Barraza said. “I didn’t have the economic means to come back again for the ceremony.”

Barraza, 77, recently shared his regrets about missing his graduation ceremony with his grandson, Raul Correa. Correa, 17, said he knew he wanted to change that.

“Seeing all of the work that my grandfather has put in his entire life, and how much he had helped my mom, and how much he’s helped me, it really empowered me to try and contact UW-Madison,” said Correa, a high school senior in San Antonio, Texas.

Until his retirement in 2001, Barraza worked for several national and multinational companies in Mexico and Washington, D.C. including Inter-American Development Bank. Since retiring, Barraza has been living in San Antonio with family.

Jeremy Foltz, chair of the UW-Madison Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, said it was a no-brainer to let Barraza come back and walk in this winter’s commencement ceremony.

“Its an opportunity that we afford to all of our graduates. He missed his first try, and I think it’s a great way to honor his PhD and to honor the work that he’s done in his career,” Foltz said.

Barraza said he felt honored by the university’s invitation to walk across the stage Sunday at the Kohl Center during the UW–Madison 2017 winter commencement ceremony.

“It was unbelievable for me,” Barraza said. “I never thought that I was going to be getting that letter.”

And Correa hopes his grandfather’s story will mean something to the other graduates, too.

“To see my grandfather come from virtually nothing, I think they will feel empowered,” Correa said.