AAHHE Doctoral Student Award

The AAHHE Doctoral Student Award recognizes doctoral students who aspire to join the academy and demonstrate their academic accomplishments and servant leadership at their university.

2025 AAHHE Doctoral Student Award Recipients

Veronica Valencia Gonzalez, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Affiliate Faculty Member in Women’s and Gender Studies
University of South Carolina

Veronica Valencia Gonzalez is a research assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina and an Affiliate Faculty Member in Women’s and Gender Studies. A first-generation college graduate and the eldest of six, Veronica was raised on California’s Central Coast by their parents, Salvador and Liduvina Gonzalez, immigrant agricultural laborers. Veronica holds a PhD in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, and specializes in research on gender-based violence and victimization within marginalized and rural communities, with a focus on Latine populations. Veronica’s work emphasizes community-centered approaches and policy advocacy, targeting systemic inequalities and institutional barriers that impact survivors. In collaboration with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, they have developed IPV intervention programs tailored to Latine cultural contexts. An active mentor, Veronica fosters collaborative research with students and leads qualitative methods working groups to support emerging scholars. Their contributions to criminology, sociology, and public policy bridge global frameworks with the lived realities of IPV survivors. Widely recognized for their commitment to social justice in academia, Veronica is an engaged member of multiple professional organizations.

Saul López
Doctoral Candidate
Marquette University

Saul López was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership at Marquette University. His scholarship draws from his own experience as a first-generation Latinx student in the Midwest. He has conducted research with the Black and Latino/a Ecosystem Transition (BLEST) hub and the MKE Roots initiative housed under Marquette’s Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach. He has also been part of the Milwaukee Community School Partnership with Marquette University and helped organize youth summits on campus aimed to center and amplify youth voice and leadership. Saúl is part of the Latinx Research Community at Marquette, where he coordinates research chats, networking events, and other research activities as a way to amplify and center Latinx scholars and Latinx research. His research and dissertation focus on Latinx student understandings of servingness at midwestern HSIs. Saúl currently serves as an adjunct instructor in Marquette’s College of Education and is also a 2024-2025 Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership Fellow. Saúl received his bachelor's degree and a master’s degree in Spanish language, literature, and culture from Marquette University.

List of Past Doctoral Student Award Recipients:

  • 2024 Diana Cervantes
  • 2023 Merylou Rodriguez
  • 2022 Roberto Orozco
  • 2021 Angel Gonzalez, MA, PhD