Sinaloa University Awards Honorary Doctorates to President Sheinbaum’s Mother and Former Mexico City Official

Culiacán, Sinaloa — The Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) awarded honorary doctorates to Annie Pardo Cemo, mother of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, and Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez, a former Mexico City education official.

University rector Jesús Madueña Molina presented the honors during a ceremony that also included Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. The event comes as the university seeks federal government support for a “financial reengineering” plan that proposes salary deductions from retired workers to maintain the institution’s fiscal health.

Madueña Molina, who led one of the contingents that attended President Sheinbaum’s last event in Culiacán on February 28, approved the recognition through the university’s established process. Honorary doctorates require justification through exceptional, verifiable merits and approval by the University Council.

Annie Pardo Cemo serves as professor emeritus in the Biology Department of the Faculty of Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and founded the Biochemistry Research Laboratory. Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez is a researcher with extensive academic and administrative experience who has held significant positions at UNAM, including general director of Graduate Studies, secretary of Institutional Development, and director of the Faculty of Sciences.

In 2018, Ruiz Gutiérrez was appointed head of Mexico City’s Secretariat of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation during the same period when Claudia Sheinbaum served as the city’s mayor.

Governor Rocha Moya, who previously clashed with the university before Madueña Molina’s re-election as rector, attended the ceremony. In 2025, the university awarded an honorary doctorate to Luciano Concheiro Bórquez, who served as undersecretary of Higher Education during the administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.