Gloria Gutiérrez, 64, a top administrator in the Agriculture Department's Food and Nutrition Service who advocated for diversity in the federal government, died of cancer April 25 at Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge. She lived in Lake Ridge.

Ms. Gutiérrez was one of the highest-ranking Hispanic career senior executives in the federal government and pushed to attract more women and minorities to civil service. She also played a pivotal role in creating a range of summer internship programs for Hispanic college students to work in federal agencies.

"That was her passion, to increase the diversity in the federal government," said Scott A. Carter, director of the Office of Governmental Affairs at the Food and Nutrition Service. Carter is also Ms. Gutiérrez's son-in-law.

In 2004, Ms. Gutiérrez joined the Agriculture Department as deputy administrator for management with the Food and Nutrition Service, which assists one in five Americans annually through 15 nutrition assistance programs.

In October, she was appointed as associate administrator for management and finance with oversight for information technology, financial management, human resources, civil rights, administrative services and homeland security.

Ms. Gutiérrez contributed to her agency in many ways, including as "mentor, supervisor, executive, spokesperson, decision maker, problem solver and straight shooter," said Roberto Salazar, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service.

"She freely shared her personal experience and counsel in a manner that developed a deep respect for her work ethic and served to help her develop a strong internal leadership team," he said.

Ms. Gutiérrez was born in Corpus Christi, Tex. She graduated from what is now Texas A&M University at Kingsville and taught high school and college. She received a master's degree in 1975 from the University of Arkansas.

In 1976, President Jimmy Carter appointed her deputy director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau. After leaving the bureau, she joined her former boss, Alexis Herman, in the private sector. From 1980 to 1991, Ms. Gutiérrez worked as executive vice president of A.M. Herman and Associates. (Herman became secretary of labor in the Clinton administration.)

Beginning in 1992, Ms. Gutiérrez held top positions at the Commerce Department, including deputy assistant secretary for administration, acting assistant secretary and chief financial officer.

That year, she coordinated with Hispanic Serving Institutions and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities to create the HACU National Internship Program, which began with 24 interns in Washington. By last year, the program had 626 students working at more than 25 federal agencies and six corporations nationwide.

Ms. Gutiérrez said at the time that the program would give young Hispanics a chance to get hands-on experience in federal government and become available for recruitment after they graduate from college.

"This in turn will serve to make the agencies within which they work more sensitive to the needs of Hispanics and other diverse groups," she said. "Finally, with more Hispanics and other minorities in government service, the needs of the various diverse populations will be met with greater efficiency and effectiveness."

In the mid-1990s, Ms. Gutiérrez worked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as acting deputy associate commissioner for administration and quality service.

While at the U.S. Census Bureau from 1998 to 2004, Ms. Gutiérrez was the assistant director of marketing, customer liaison and data-dissemination services. She played a key role in the marketing of the 2000 Census to diverse populations, with an emphasis on Hispanics.

She received many awards, including the Leadership Award from the League of United Latin American Citizens in 2000; the patent and trademark commissioner's equal employment opportunity award in 1997; and the Commerce Department's Gold Medal in 1996. She was the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives' Federal Executive of the Year in 2000.

Her marriages to Robert Roland and Donald Terrell ended in divorce.

Survivors include three children from her first marriage, Stephanie Carter of Stafford, Robert Rowland Jr. of Lake Ridge and Robyn Rowland of Richmond; her mother, Carmen Gutiérrez of Corpus Christi; two brothers; and three grandchildren.

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