With a career dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion, Dr. Terriquez’s work has profoundly impacted both academic scholarship and community advocacy. Her research, which primarily focuses on the role of civic engagement in racially diverse communities, economic and health equity, and the impact of educational policies on low-income students, seeks to bridge sociological analysis in conversation with social movements fighting for social justice. Her work draws strategically on mixed methods that include surveys, spatial data, focus groups, participant observations, and semi-structured interviews. Dr. Terriquez has published extensively in top-tier academic journals, including the American Sociological Review, Gender & Society, Feminist Studies, Social Problems, Social Science & Medicine, Community Development, and Education Policy. Her work contributes significant insights into the intersections of race, class, gender, and education that are pivotal to highlighting barriers for Latinx communities and providing a starting point for policy advocacy to foster inclusivity and opportunity.

Dr. Terriquez’s leadership extends beyond research to her role as the director of the CSRC. Founded in 1969, the CSRC’s mission is to have a systemic impact on the campus, within higher education, and across society through original research on the Chicano and Latino communities in the U.S.  The Center includes the largest Chicano Studies Library in the world and it houses its own press. At the center, Dr. Terriquez drives interdisciplinary research and nurtures the next generation of scholars committed to research that impacts Latinx communities. Under her guidance, the center has launched numerous new initiatives focused on Latinx youth and Latinas, including California Freedom Summer Participatory Action Research Project, The Thriving Youth Study, and Latina Futures. Initiatives like these align with the University’s mission to become a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by 2025 and to ensure California and the broader country are equipped to deliver transformative policy change that promotes equity and supports the success of Latino communities. Additionally, in this role, Dr. Terriquez oversees faculty hiring and other projects connected to the UCLA Chancellor’s HSI Infrastructure Initiative.

In line with her academic pursuits, Dr. Terriquez uses her position and research to drive civic organizing efforts to empower youth, particularly children of immigrants and youth of color. She has carried out and disseminated her research in collaboration with schools, unions, community organizations, and local governments to vastly increase impact not just within academia, but also in the lives of the very people she includes in her research.

Recognized for her contributions to academia and beyond, Dr. Terriquez has received numerous awards, including the University Faculty Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) and the American Sociological Association Distinguished Research – Distinguished Article Award in the Area of Latino Sociology. Her research has been supported by major grants from the The California Endowment, Irvine Foundation, The Stuart Foundation, The Weingart Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Moreover, she has received prestigious fellowships from the Stanford University Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the Ford Foundation.  

But her achievements are more than an academic. She is a mentor to many, and a catalyst for real change that impacts historically underresourced and underserved communities. Her unwavering commitment to justice and equity continues to inspire and drive meaningful progress in California communities and beyond.

Dr. Terriquez earned her Ph.D. in sociology from UCLA and holds a M.A in education from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in sociology from Harvard University.