Aned Y. Muñiz Gracia is a typical Puertorriqueña. She was born and raised in Corozal, a rural town in Puerto Rico. As a girl she enjoyed nature and playing with animals. (This is probably why Aned is now a vegetarian). At the age of 10, she started swimming with the Corozal Gold Fish Swim Team. Swimming has been an important activity in her life, as it has been the basis for other sports such as tandem surfing and water polo.

During her last year of high-school, Aned took part in an international cultural exchange program. Her educational accomplishments reflect the international experiences she had to reach her career goals. She attended Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras and received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages. Aned studied one summer at the Far Eastern University in Vladivostok, Russia, participated in a summer seminar at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and worked at Fersped Skopje, an import-export company in Macedonia.
After her Bachelor's degree, she enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received the Master of Arts in European Languages and Literature in 1998. Aned Muñiz was then awarded a prestigious Fulbright to conduct academic research on Music as a device to facilitate language instruction at the Universität Klagenfurt and Universitaet Wien in Austria.

Having studied in different parts of the world enabled her to learn various languages such as Russian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, English. She has also studied Welsh, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian and Hawaiian.

Aned then arrived to California, where she immediately started teaching at various community colleges and universities. She is a doctoral candidate in Leadership Studies and Education Sciences.



Her love of the arts and busy academic schedule did not deter her from doing volunteer work. She served as interpreter at the Junior World Sports Acrobatics Competitions in Hawaii 1997, Columnist for "la iupi" newspaper, lifeguard and swim instructor in Austria, Proyecto Coquí (a research team seeking to protect the endangered species of Eleuterodactylus), international students' counselor, and veterinary assistant for the Hawaiian Humane Society. She also spent the summer of 2003 in Stavanger, Norway, as a volunteer Camp Director for an international children's day camp. In 2009, she was in charge of 2 educational and conservation projects in the Dominican Republic. As Project Leader, she supervised the student volunteers' daily lesson plans and the educational curriculum offered during the summer, as well as the coordination of construction tasks. The professor serves at various campus organizations and helped create MiraCosta College's Italian Club.

Aned considers becoming a Peace Corps volunteer in the future in order to continue to share her knowledge with others and become an instrument in the development of economically disadvantaged youth. In the long run, she hopes to be elected to public office in Puerto Rico and lead the island's Department of Education.


Aned's roster of scholastic awards include a Graduate Assistantship from the Department of European Languages and Literature, University of Hawaii; Homecoming Scholar First Runner-Up, 1996; Scholarship from Cymdeithas Madog, the Welsh-American Society, to attend their 1996 Welsh seminar and summer language course in Vermont; Scholarship from the German Government's Academic Exchange to take part in the 1994 summer course for German language specialists at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; Second Prize, University of Hawaii French poetry contest, 1994; First Prize in poetry, Association Portoricaine des Professeurs de Français, 1995; Hawaii Newspaper Agency Award for Excellence in Commentary/Analysis in 1998.


Aned Muñiz was consistently on the Dean's List throughout her undergraduate studies. In 1991 she won the first prize for Photography at the Universidad de Puerto Rico. Fitness training has been her main hobby when not busy with academics. She was named "Surfer of the Month" by El Nuevo Día newspaper, September 1996 and was the highest scorer in the International Master's Swimming Open, 1995. Her being a fitness buff also earned her the following awards: Sports Achievement Award, City of Corozal, 1995. Most Valuable Age-Group Swimmer, Swimming Association of Puerto Rico, 1992. First intermediate level place, Gymnastics, Universidad de Puerto Rico,1994. Additional sports participation includes cheerleading at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, sports acrobatics, water polo and tandem surfing.

Most recently, Aned Muñiz Gracia received the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award from MiraCosta College, a 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award from Grossmont College, was named to San Diego's Top 40 under 40 and to Nostika Magazine's Top 10 Latinos in San Diego in 2007. She also received an Italian Government grant and was featured in various news outlets.
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