Nadia Alvarez Mexia

• Profiles of Success Hispanic Leadership Awards

Nadia Alvarez Mexia

2024Premio Orgullo

Premio Orgullo

Awarded to a special person who demonstrates achievement or a documented track record of leadership that is deserving of recognition.

About

Nadia Alvarez Mexia

Dr. Nadia Alvarez Mexia was born and raised in Mexico. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice and Assistant Director of Learning Development and Community Involvement at the W.A. Franke Honors College. An award-winning educator, she has devoted her professional and teaching career to creating safe learning spaces and designing remarkable academic experiences. Her dedication has achieved recognition from the University of Arizona, as well as from NAFSA: Association of International Educators in the U.S. and institutions of higher education in Mexico. Nadia holds an interdisciplinary background, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Information Systems from Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). She also earned her Ph.D. in Teaching & Teacher Education with a minor in Language, Reading & Culture at the UArizona, where she was honored with the Erasmus Circle Award 2006 as a grad student. 

From 2007-2020, Nadia developed over nine different short-term programs for international and domestic populations, including students, faculty, and professionals. She obtained multiple funds to sponsor students from Latin America, Asia and Europe including an IDEAS grant from the U.S. Department of State to support the program “Navigating Education in the Borderlands” which recruited first-generation, binational, and diverse undergraduate students in the U.S. to learn about Arizona-Sonora region and its social, environmental, government, business, and other constituents of this region. Nadia fostered multiple collaborations across Mexico and other countries during her role in the International Office at the UArizona. Nowadays, Nadia continues to cultivate these relationships through her faculty role in Franke Honors. 

She has contributed to various publications, including serving as a co-author of the chapter book “Climbing Uphill” in Amplified Voices, Intersectional Identities: Volume 2, and as the author of the chapter “The Monarch Route” in the book Baila Conmigo: Mentoring Latinas as School Leaders. Recently, Nadia collaborated with colleagues from the UArizona, including the Franke Honors, and obtained Director’s Funds from the Confluencenter for the project “Bridging Borders: Honoring Interdisciplinary Student Talent.” Additionally, in partnership with a colleague from the Office of the Provost, she obtained a LGTBQ+ Faculty Research Grant for the project “FABULOUS in STE+AM: Fostering, Affirmation, Belonging and Unity for LGTBQ+ Student Opportunities, Understanding and Succes.” 

Nadia is one of the UArizona Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Fellows for 2018-2019, as well as an Academic Leadership Institute (ALI) Fellows 2020-2021. She serves as a mentor of the Nepantla Student Association (NSA) in Franke Honors, the Faculty Co-chair for the Latinx Faculty and Staff Association (LFSA) in the UArizona, and co-founder of the National HSI-Honors Consortioum. In 2018, Nadia’s work has been honored with the Edith Sayre Auslander Established Visionary Award and the Human Relations Commission of the City of Tucson Recognition.

Additionally, Nadia teaches Honors courses, develops transformative pedagogy, participates in multiple committees, oversees internships, and establishes new connections with our community, both locally and across the border. These efforts aim to provide our students with learning experiences centered around interculturality, cultural self, shared characteristics, leadership, and identity. Before joining the UA, Nadia worked for a decade in Mexico’s higher education system as a professor, mentor, and administrator within the ITESM Campus Monterrey and Mazatlán and other higher education institutions.

Learn About Profiles of Success

Share by: