UCLA Education Department Chair is one of 19 distinguished education scholars and leaders elected to academy membership in 2026 in recognition of their significant contributions to education research and policy.
Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, professor of education and chair of the Department of Education at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, has been elected to the National Academy of Education.
“Cecilia has been a truly transformative leader at UCLA,” said Christina Christie, Wasserman Dean of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. “Her enduring belief in the strengths and talents of people from a broad range of experiences and perspectives, coupled with her steadfast commitment to advancing equity and access in education, has informed her distinguished scholarship and created opportunities for countless others. She exemplifies the principles of the ‘Funds of Knowledge’ framework. The Academy has made an excellent choice!”
The National Academy of Education advances high quality education research and its use in policy and practice. The Academy consists of U.S. members and international associates who are elected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership related to education. Members serve on expert study panels addressing pressing issues in education and are deeply engaged in the academy’s fellowship programs.
Commenting on her election to the Academy, Rios-Aguilar said, “I am deeply grateful for this and thankful to the many scholars, colleagues, mentors and students who have shaped and supported my trajectory.” She added special appreciation to the late professor Luis Moll, saying, “Un abrazo hasta el cielo, gracias por todo,” which translates roughly as “A hug to heaven, thank you for everything.”
As a graduate student, Rios-Aguilar was drawn to the work of Moll and his scholarship of “Funds of Knowledge.” That experience fueled a deep belief and commitment to an asset-based, anti-deficit approach to understanding students and supporting learning that remains central to her continuing research and scholarship today.
As a professor & department chair at the UCLA School of Education, Rios-Aguilar has led equity-focused research and institutional transformation in higher education for more than 15 years. Her research spans multiple disciplines using a variety of asset-based conceptual frameworks—funds of knowledge, community cultural wealth and the forms of capital—and statistical approaches—econometric models, multilevel models, spatial analyses and GIS, and social network analysis—to study the educational and occupational trajectories of marginalized students.
Much of Rios-Aguilar’s recent research has focused on community colleges, leading pioneering scholarship in community college student success with 75+ peer-reviewed publications focusing on Latino/Hispanic student experiences and educational pathways. Her research delves deeply into California Community College Baccalaureate programs and their role in advancing social mobility and racial equity. In Rios-Aguilar’s work, she has provided support for multilingual learners’ transitions to postsecondary education and pushed for asset-based approaches to community college student success. A recent example of her scholarship includes “Latinos in California’s Community College Bachelor’s Degree Programs: What We Know So Far,” with co-author and UCLA doctoral candidate Davis Vo, examining the enrollment, academic success, labor market experiences, and loan rate of Latino students in the California Community College Baccalaureate program.
At UCLA, Rios-Aguilar has served as an admired mentor and source of support, guiding more than 45 doctoral students to completion. Many of those now have positions and play key roles at leading educational institutions and research centers. She also previously served as director of the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA.
“This prestigious selection reflects Cecilia’s impact on the field, the transformative work she leads locally with community colleges, and the cariño and commitment she brings to nurturing the next generation of scholars and the seeds of possibility she has cultivated with me,” said Rogelio Salazar a first-generation Ph.D. candidate at UCLA Ed&IS and a doctoral researcher who has worked closely Rios-Aguilar.
In addition, Rios-Aguilar serves as a faculty co-director for Policy Analysis of California Education (PACE) and is a research affiliate of Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis. She is also a board member of the Spencer Foundation.
Rios-Aguilar achieved her Ph.D. in educational theory and policy and her master of science in school administration at the University of Rochester. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.