Chicano Studies scholar Louis Mendoza named associate vice provost for equity and diversity at the University of Minnesota

Contacts: Ami Berger, Office for Equity and Diversity, 612-625-0498
Bob San, University News Service, (612) 624-4082

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/26/2008) — Louis Mendoza, associate professor of Chicano studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, has joined the university's Office for Equity and Diversity (OED) as associate vice provost for equity and diversity. Mendoza's position in OED, which began Aug.18, is a 50 percent appointment, with the remainder of his time dedicated to serving as interim chair of the department of Spanish and Portuguese studies in the College of Liberal Arts.

Mendoza has been a professor at the University of Minnesota since 2004. He received his Ph.D. in English with a concentration in ethnic and third world literatures from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his appointment at the University of Minnesota, he taught at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Houston-Downtown and Brown University. At UTSA he served as associate dean for the College of Liberal and Fine Arts and as interim director of the Hispanic Research Center.At the University of Minnesota, he served as chair of the department of Chicano studies from 2004-2007 and co-chaired the University's Task Force on Diversity in 2005.

The new position of associate vice provost for equity and diversity was created in direct response to the university's strategic positioning goals of recruiting, retaining and advancing exceptional faculty and becoming one of the top research universities in the world. As associate vice provost, Mendoza will be working collaboratively with colleges and other academic officers to support and enhance faculty diversity as well as to promote interdisciplinary faculty and graduate research on issues related to equity, diversity and social justice.

One of his primary responsibilities will be the development of OED's newly formed Equity and Diversity Research Institute, which has a mission to sustain and support a diverse and interdisciplinary community of scholars who conduct innovative research and produce transformational scholarship on enduring social questions related to equity and diversity.

“I am thrilled that Louis has agreed to take on this critical role for the university,” said Nancy “Rusty” Barceló, the university's vice president and vice provost for equity and diversity.“He is an exceptional scholar, whose work in Chicano Studies is internationally known, and he is also a talented administrator. I look forward to the ways in which his contributions as associate vice provost will advance the university toward its goal of becoming a national model for equity and diversity across higher education.”