Tomás Rivera Lecture Series


Sponsored by ETS (Educational Testing Services)


Each year a distinguished scholar or national leader is selected to present the Tomás Rivera Lecture. In the tradition of the Hispanic Caucus, AAHHE continues this series. Named in honor of the late Dr. Tomás Rivera, professor, poet and former president of the University of California, Riverside, this series highlights the keynote address delivered each year at the annual American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) conference. Read more about Dr. Tomás Rivera here. 

 

39th Annual Tomás Rivera Lecture
Thursday, March 2, 2023, 9:00 - 10:00 AM PST
AAHHE National Conference

 

Daisy Gonzales, PhD
Chancellor
California Community Colleges

 

Daisy Gonzales, PhD serves as the chancellor of the California Community Colleges, a 116-community college system serving over 1.8 million students. Born into an immigrant family in Southern California and raised as a former foster youth, she was among the first in her family to attend college. She continues to break barriers as the first Latina and the second woman to serve in the role.  She is a champion of California Assembly Bill 705, a state law which calls for California Community Colleges to end student-placement assessments, and provide students direct access to transfer-level English and math with necessary supports. In 2018, Gonzales oversaw the system’s adaptation of a new funding strategy that supports student equity through intentional and strategic targeting of funds to districts serving low-income students. As deputy chancellor, Gonzales led the system’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility work leading the Board of Governors to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility competencies and criteria into performance evaluations and tenure review for all employees in 2021. Prior to 2017, Gonzales had various roles: as a dual-immersion third-grade teacher; as a budget consultant for the California State Assembly Budget Committee; as principal consultant for the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and as associate director for Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). Gonzales is a proud community college alum of Los Angeles Valley College; she graduated from Mills College with a bachelor's degree in public policy and earned a master's degree and doctorate in sociology from UC Santa Barbara. She is former Aspen Institute presidential fellow, serves on the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and is the co-founder of the Sacramento Latina Leaders Network and the California Community Colleges Women’s Caucus. In 2021, she received the California Legislative Women’s Caucus Woman of the Year Award from Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, in recognition of her leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The ETS Policy Evaluation and Research Center is pleased to have published the following lectures:

Previous Lectures' Presenters:

  • 2008 Jamie P. Merisotis
  • 2007 Sonia Nazario
  • 2006 Michael A. Olivas
  • 2005 Raul Yzaguirre
  • 2004 Angela Oh
  • 2003 Piedad Robertson
  • 2002 Harold L. Hodgkinson
  • 2001 Félix Gutiérrez
  • 2000 David Hayes-Bautista
  • 1999 Jim Cummins
  • 1998 Samuel Betances
  • 1997 Albert H. Kauffman
  • 1996 Rolando Hinojosa Smith
  • 1995 Ronald Takaki
  • 1994 Norma Cantú
  • 1993 Gregory R. Anrig
  • 1992 Henry Cisneros
  • 1991 Toni Morrison
  • 1990 Tomás Arciniega
  • 1989 David Hamburg
  • 1988 Arturo Madrid
  • 1987 Ann Reynolds
  • 1986 Alfredo de los Santos Jr.
  • 1985 John Maguire