Co-Principal Investigators
Robert Teranishi is a Professor of Social Science and Comparative Education, the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies, and co-director for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization and Education at UCLA. His research is broadly focused on race, ethnicity, and the stratification of college opportunity. His work has been influential to federal, state, and institution policy related to college access and affordability. He has provided congressional testimony regarding the Higher Education Reauthorization Act and No Child Left Behind, informed state policy decisions related to selective college admissions, and his research has been solicited to inform U.S. Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and school desegregation. Prior to his appointment at UCLA, he served as a professor at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. Recently, President Obama appointed Dr. Teranishi as a member on the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Services.
Carola Suárez-Orozco is a Professor of Human Development and Psychology at UCLA. Her books include: Learning a New Land: Immigrant Children in American Society Children of Immigration Transformations: Migration, Family Life, and Achievement Motivation Among Latino Adolescents and The New Immigration: An Interdisciplinary Reader. She has been awarded an American Psychological Association Presidential Citation for her contributions to the understanding of cultural psychology of immigration and has served as the Chair of the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration.
UndocuScholars Team
Cynthia Maribel Alcantar is a Postdoctoral Scholar for the Institute for Global-Local Action & Study (IGLAS) and Visiting Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College. Cynthia is also a researcher for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, & Education (IGE) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research broadly focuses on issues of college access and college completion for underrepresented student populations, especially as it relates to higher education policy and practice. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Riverside in Psychology and a minor in Sociology, M.A. in Higher Education from Claremont Graduate University, and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in Social Science and Comparative Education. She has worked as an administrator for TRIO grant programs at Norco Community College and Claremont Graduate University, and Title V Hispanic Serving Institutions grant at Mount St. Mary’s College.
Rachel E. Freeman is a PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles where she is also a Research Associate for the Civil Rights Project and the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education. Rachel’s research interests include access and equity in higher education for immigrant students and students of color. Rachel has worked extensively with immigrant and undocumented young adults in Los Angeles, Oakland, Boston, and Washington, DC. She has also worked in the higher education sector for Bunker Hill Community College, MassBay Community College, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Achieving the Dream, and Jobs for the Future. Rachel is proficient in Spanish, Japanese, and French. She received her Masters in Higher Education from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and her Bachelors in philosophy from The University of Chicago.
Edwin Hernandez is currently an Assistant Professor in the Counseling and Guidance Program in the College of Education at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Edwin is also a Research Associate for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education (IGE) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research and teaching interest are focused on issues of equity and access in education, with a focus on institutional culture and how it shapes students’ experience and outcome across the educational pipeline. Edwin has worked as a K-12 bilingual school counselor and youth counselor in community-based organizations. Edwin received his B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Northridge, M.A. in Bilingual School Counseling from New York University, and his Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Audrey D. Paredes is a Ph.D. candidate in the Social Science and Comparative Education Division with a specialization in Race and Ethnic Studies, a research associate for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education (IGE), and a research associate for the Center for Critical Race Studies (CCRS) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research interests stem from her experiences as the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and a first-generation student. Audrey’s research aims to examine the experiences of first-generation Students of Color in higher education with a particular focus on the intersections of race, class, gender, and immigration status specifically for Central American student. through her work, Audrey hopes to impact policy and practice to transform and improve educational outcomes and experiences. Prior to entering the doctoral program, Audrey received her Master of Arts in Education from UCLA and her Bachelor of Arts in Gender, Ethnicity, and Multicultural Studies from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.