Cristóbal Rodriguez named to Presidential Advisory Commission

Cristóbal Rodríguez, associate dean of Equity, Inclusion and Community Engagement at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, has been recognized as one of 21 individuals that President Biden has identified as designated appointees to the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.

The Commission is being created to provide recommendations pertaining to educational equity and economic opportunity for the Hispanic and Latino community, according to The White House announcement. 

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says, “President Biden has chosen some of the nation’s most highly-qualified and inspiring Latina and Latino leaders and educators to serve on his Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. This impressive group of educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, labor leaders, scholars, and innovators will elevate the voices of Latinos and serve as a tremendous resource to the President and the entire Biden-Harris team.”

“As our country becomes increasingly diverse,” says Rodriguez, “it is important to reflect at our institutions a more equitable representation of the communities we serve. The work of this commission directly aligns with the ASU Charter as it involves leveraging expertise and research to advance equality for educational and career opportunities on behalf of Latina/o/x/é students. In doing so, we are strengthening efforts statewide and nationally to support the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities we serve.” 

Rodriguez’ research, teaching and service advocates for equity and access for dual language learners, Black, Latino and Indigenous communities, families and children. In 2016 Rodríguez was recognized with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Faculty Honors and was most recently honored as the 2019 José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellow with the Intercultural Development Research Association to collaborate on school finance, equity and college readiness for Black and Latino students. He serves and leads on multiple national education committees, boards and organizations in advocating for educational equity for all students.

Prior to joining MLFTC, which has been recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution, Rodríguez spent five years as an assistant professor at New Mexico State University, a Hispanic Serving Institution in Las Cruces, New Mexico and more recently spent seven years at Howard University, a Historically Black university in Washington, D.C., as an associate professor and as the director of Graduate Studies of the School of Education. 

Rodríguez earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New Mexico State University, was born and raised in El Paso by immigrant parents from Mexico and holds a PhD in Educational Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin with a portfolio in Mexican American Studies.