Lorelle Espinosa is the vice president for research at the American Council on Education (ACE), a national membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. She is responsible for developing and managing the organization’s thought leadership portfolio and for ensuring a strong evidence base across ACE’s myriad programs and services. Her personal scholarship spans a variety of issues, including race-conscious and race-neutral practices in selective college admissions, the role of minority serving institutions in meeting 21st-century educational and workforce goals, identifying factors that contribute to positive campus racial climate, and diversity and inclusion in the STEM disciplines.

As a national thought leader on issues pertaining to college access and success for diverse populations, Dr. Espinosa has contributed opinion and scholarly works to peer-reviewed journals, academic volumes, and industry publications and websites, including the Harvard Educational Review, Research in Higher Education, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, CNN.com, and ACE’s own HigherEdToday.org. Additionally, her research on diversity strategies in selective college admissions, and on women of color in STEM, was cited in five amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court.

With long-running practice, research, and policy-facing experience in STEM higher education, Dr. Espinosa most recently served as co-chair of the National Academies study committee, “Closing the Equity Gap: Revitalizing STEM Education and Workforce Readiness Programs in the Nation’s Minority-Serving Institutions.​” She also serves on the national boards of College Possible and the American Youth Policy Forum, and has held leadership roles in the American Educational Research Association and the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

Reach out to Dr. Espinosa on Twitter to say THANK YOU for the education research work that she does! Be sure to use the hashtag #ThankAScientist.

 
@lorelleespinosa