Through and through. Dr. Ruth M. López is an educator whose purpose is not just to teach but to support students. Her career as a teacher and an administrator spans middle school, high school, and now higher education.
Dr. Ruth M. López
The University of Arizona is the first four-year public institution in the state to be federally recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). López — the daughter of immigrants — says the land-grant university was a promising choice, given its scholars and proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and her scholarly work on immigration.
“As I was going through my career and figuring out the research that drives me and that I want to do, opportunities came up at the U of A,” she says. “All these different boxes were getting checked.”
Before López’s current appointment, she served in a similar role as an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Houston. For seven years, she helped serve the needs of senior faculty and intrepid students. But even before she began teaching at the collegiate level in 2016, López taught and mentored youth. As an undergrad at The University of Texas at Austin, she worked with fellow classmates and friends to mentor middle school and high school students throughout Texas.
"I'm a first-generation student. And I'm a product of a lot of outreach work. TRIO programs supported my path toward college,” says López.
López took on another mentor role as assistant director of UT Austin’s University Outreach Centers in Houston after graduating in 2004 with bachelor’s degrees in ethnic studies (Mexican American studies) and Spanish (Hispanic studies).
