Hispanic Scholars Honored for Dissertations

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San Antonio (March 7, 2011) —

This press release is also available in Spanish.

Four Hispanic scholars were honored for their research on diversity and multicultural issues during the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) annual conference in San Antonio on March 5. The awards are provided by Educational Testing Service (ETS) and recognize dissertations chosen from more than 50 entries nationwide.

Rocio Magaña, Ph.D., from Rutgers University, received the first place "Kurt M. Landgraf Outstanding Dissertation Award," named for the ETS President and CEO. Her research during the last decade has focused on the political appropriation of human vulnerability and the allocation of risk. Her dissertation, "Bodies on the Line: Life, Death and Authority on the Arizona-Mexico Border," cites "violent neglect" as a consequence of the use of physical exertion and exposure in U.S. border enforcement. Magaña earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and throughout 2011 will be in residence at the University of Michigan where she is completing a book.

Accepting the second place award was Edris J. Montalvo, Jr., Ph.D., of Cameron University. He was recognized for his dissertation, "The Recruitment and Retention of Hispanic and African-American Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in the U.S., 2000–2006." Montalvo is an assistant professor of geography at Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma. His research focuses on underrepresentation of Hispanic and African-American undergraduate students in public universities. His other research interests include geography education, ethnic geography and ethnic migration. He earned his B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. from Texas State University-San Marcos.

There was a tie for third place in this year's competition. Alisia Cabán, Ph.D., University of Oregon, won for her dissertation, "Development and Initial Validation of the Multicultural Competence Change Scale for Psychology Trainees." Cabán is the Senior Staff Therapist and Eating Disorders Coordinator at the University of Oregon. Her research has centered on underrepresented college students and enhancing multicultural competence in psychology. Her dissertation has received local and national recognition, and she continues her research on the theme of her dissertation. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon.

The second recipient was Sophia Jordán Wallace, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, who won for her dissertation, "Beyond Roll Call Votes: Latino Representation in the 108th–110th Sessions of the U.S. House of Representatives." Jordán Wallace is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, she is the daughter of immigrants from Peru and Great Britain. Her research interests include immigrant and Latino political behavior, anti-immigrant legislation and immigrant rights advocacy. She is writing a book based on her dissertation. She earned her Ph.D. in government at Cornell University.

"Our ability to showcase the academic talent of Latino doctoral students through this competition is not only inspiring — this award is a career springboard not only for the first-place winner but all award winners," says AAHHE President Loui Olivas. "AAHHE is proud to partner with ETS in support of this competition."

In addition to the awards, the three finalists also will receive:

  • a monetary award — $5,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place
  • an AAHHE/ETS plaque
  • support to attend the 2011 AAHHE Conference to present their dissertations in an individual concurrent session
  • the opportunity to submit an article based on the dissertation to the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education

In addition, ETS will invite the first-place winner to publish an abstract of the winning dissertation in ETS Policy Notes and to showcase the research at an ETS-hosted seminar in Princeton, New Jersey.

For further information on AAHHE and the annual dissertation competition, visit www.aahhe.org.

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org