Professor Frances Contreras has been appointed dean of the School of Education at The University of California, Irvine (UCI). According to UCI News, more than 1,000 students are enrolled in the school’s bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. programs.
“In only its ninth year of existence, our School of Education has grown into one of the nation’s finest, and Frances Contreras is the right leader to continue moving us forward,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman in a statement. “Her scholarly and administrative achievements are perfectly aligned with the strengths, accomplishments, and far-reaching impact of the school.”
Professor Contreras will be the first Chicana/Latina dean to head a school of education in the University of California (UC) system. A UC alumna herself, she earned a bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley. She also holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in education from Stanford University.
A first-generation college student, her research focuses on diversity and access for underrepresented students and the role of public policy in ensuring student equity. Her work has been published in leading education journals, and her books include Achieving Equity for Latino Students, The Latino Education Crisis and High-Achieving African American Students, and the College Choice Process. She will join UCI on January 1, 2022.
Currently, Professor Contreras is serving as associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In spring 2021, UCSD honored her with the Cesar E. Chavez award, which recognizes outstanding faculty contributions to the campus community.
Contreras is co-chair of the UC Chicano/Latino Advisory Council. She sits on the UC Hispanic-Serving Institutions Initiative advisory board, the advisory board for The Puente Project, on the National League of United Latin American Citizens higher education task force, on the board of the Lupe Contreras Scholarship Fund, and on the WestEd board of directors.
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