Michael Nava

Dr. Michael Nava has more than 24 years of experience as a leader in the areas of student development, college readiness, academic advising, academic success support programs, assessment and retention programs. Since 2011, Nava has worked at Texas State University, most recently as associate dean for student services. He also held the positions of assistant dean and director of the Texas Success Initiative Program with Texas State. Currently, he is the executive director of student success initiatives here at The University of Texas at Austin.

Nava has designed and implemented successful data-driven academic support programs and services, and through his professional career, he has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to serving first-generation, low-income, transfer and underserved students. He has received numerous awards for his work, including recognition for the STEM Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program by Excelencia in Education in 2019 as one of the “Programs to Watch.”

Nava is a two-time Longhorn graduate, having earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and a B.A. in Psychology from UT Austin. His UT connections also include serving previously as executive director for TRIO Programs in the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. He has been active with Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success) since 2010 and is currently chair of the Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color.