Denisa Gandara

Photo of faculty member Denisa  Gandara
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy

Email: denisa.gandara@austin.utexas.edu
Office: SZB 3.308L
Office Hours: Mondays 4:15 p- 5:15 p; Tuesdays 4:15 p- 5:15 p
View Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
 

Dr. Denisa Gándara is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. Gándara’s research examines the development of higher education policy decisions and the effects of these decisions on students who have been excluded from and underserved in higher education. An additional line of research explores how various approaches to funding colleges and universities might promote or hinder social equity.

Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the Ford Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the American Educational Research Association, among other sources. She is a William T. Grant Scholar, a Ford Foundation Fellow, a McNair Scholar, and a Head Start alumnus.

She is an associate editor for The Journal of Higher Education and an editorial board member for the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success.

Gándara was appointed by President Joe Biden to the National Board for Education Sciences. In addition, she currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

Gándara graduated as a Deans Distinguished Graduate from The University of Texas at Austin and earned a Ph.D. from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. She was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.