Sylvia Hurtado

Sylvia Hurtado is a Distinguished Professor in Education at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. 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 and 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 (AERA) Council in 2019. She was elected President of AERA and will serve in 2027-28. 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 and uses of campus racial climate assessments for institutional transformation. She is a special advisor to the UCLA Chancellor. Dr. Hurtado is an alumna of UCLA (Ph.D.), Harvard Graduate School of Education (M.Ed.) and Princeton University (A.B.).