Dr. Rio C. López is the director of Chicano Programs. They are originally from Ciudad Juarez, México. They received their Ph.D. in Special Education with a concentration in Bilingual and Multicultural Education and a minor in Family Studies from New Mexico State University. Prior to their return to NMSU as the director of Chicano Programs, Dr. López worked as a core faculty member at Lesly University for the Graduate School of Education with pre-service teachers, graduate students, and doctoral candidates. In their work, Dr. López employs qualitative self-reflective methodologies, a Critical Race Feminista framework, and Chicano/Latina ways of knowing that center on lived experiences. Their goal is to engage in equity work that acknowledges identity, intersectionality, and power dynamics to foster accountability that is needed to ensure a sense of belonging for students, particularly, BIPOC, Latinx/e, and students from historically minoritized backgrounds.

Fun Fact: Dr. Lopez enjoys painting tiny canvases in their spare time.

Dr. Rio Lopez

Director of Chicano Program