Sylvia Hurtado

University of California, Los Angeles

Distinguished Professor in Education

Sylvia Hurtado is a Distinguished Professor at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and the Division of Higher Education and Organizational Change. As a first-generation Latina college student from San Antonio, TX, she studied sociology of education in college. Influenced by these experiences, her scholarship focuses on student educational outcomes, campus racial climates, and equity and inclusion in higher education. She served as director of the Higher Education Research Institute (UCLA) for over a decade and is the former President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She served on the Board of Higher Education and Workforce of the National Research Council. She was on study panels that produced several National Academy Press reports on STEM, student success, and mentoring. She was elected to the National Academy of Education and the American Educational Research Association Council in 2019. Dr. Hurtado has led several national research projects, including NIH-sponsored projects on the longitudinal assessment of students aspiring for STEM careers and institutional strategies to broaden participation in STEM. Current research includes case studies of departments implementing culturally aware mentoring for faculty (NIH U01) with the University of Wisconsin and uses of campus racial climate assessments for institutional transformation, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It continues to work on NIH-funded projects to study student-centered interventions and organizational change. She is a special advisor to the UCLA Chancellor on HSI initiatives as the campus prepares to create intentional practices to serve better the increasing numbers of Latinx, first-generation, and low-income students. Dr. Hurtado is an alumna of UCLA (Ph.D.), Harvard Graduate School of Education (M.Ed.) and Princeton University (A.B.).