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Marcelo Suárez-Orozco  

Chancellor, UMass Boston, Cultural Psychology Expert, Harvard Educator

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco is the ninth permanent and current chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, and is the first Latino to lead a campus in the Massachusetts public university system. He is the former inaugural UCLA Wasserman Dean at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and previously held the position of Dean at the same institution.

Prior to his roles in Massachusetts and at UCLA, Suárez-Orozco served in various academic and administrative capacities. As the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Education at Harvard, he co-founded and co-directed the Harvard Immigration Project. He was also the inaugural Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU, and has held fellowships at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. Suárez-Orozco's research interests include cultural psychology and psychological anthropology, with a strong focus on education, globalization, and migration. His award-winning books, such as "Learning in a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society," which won the Stone Award for 2008 for Best Book on Education, and edited volumes have been published by prestigious presses including Harvard University Press and Stanford University Press.

Suárez-Orozco's scholarly work is complemented by his active engagement in public discourse and policy advisory roles. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, currently serving in the Governance and Trust Board, and the National Academy of Education. His influence extends internationally as he has served as a Special Advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. A frequent speaker at high-profile venues, he has lectured at the UN, The Vatican, and various governmental and educational institutions worldwide, discussing topics such as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Global Issues.

In recognition of his contributions, he has received numerous accolades including the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle. He was appointed by Pope Francis to the Executive Committee of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and named a “Great Immigrant / Great American” by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 2018. A testament to the global impact of his work is his endorsement of the Ross School model in his program "Educating the Whole Child for the Whole World: The Ross School Model and Education for the Global Era," which has been highlighted as an exemplary model for global education in the 21st century. An immigrant from Argentina, Suárez-Orozco is a product of the California master plan, having studied at community college and at the University of California Berkeley, where he received his AB, MA, and PhD in anthropology in 1986.

Speech Topics


Immigration and Education

In America today, one in five children is from an immigrant-headed home. How should these children be educated to become engaged citizens? Should they be encouraged to assimilate or to maintain their cultural traditions? With charm, with hard data, Suarez-Orozco explores these and other questions about the future of education in this country.

What World Migration Means for Business

America now has more immigrants than ever before; the immigrant GDP is roughly one trillion dollars. With incomparable intelligence and historical data, Suarez-Orozco shows us why this wave of immigration is vastly different from previous ones, and what its profound implications are for every facet of American business.

Educating the Whole Child for the Whole World: The Ross School Model and Education for the Global Era

"The Ross School is an exemplary model of what is attainable for global education in the 21st Century" -Oprah Winfrey

Over the last two decades, the influential Ross School has pioneered a systematic approach to education that is consciously tailored for our unprecedented new era of global interdependence. While other schooling systems are slow to adapt to shifting economic, technological, demographic, and cultural terrains, the Ross School maps out an exciting shift in educational thinking. In this talk, immigration and education expert Marcelo Suarez-Orozco examines the ethos and practices of the Ross School, showing us how their revolutionary ideas have changed public education for the better. The Ross model, which cultivates in students a truly global perspective, aligns with broader and vital trends in the arts, the humanities, and the sciences of today's fast-changing and interconnected world.

Globalization and Immigration

Synthesizing ideas from a broad range of disciplines Suarez-Orozco examines how globalization and large-scale immigration are affecting youth, both in and out of schools, and shows us why, if they are to become informed citizens in the new millennium, we must help them develop new skills and sensibilities far ahead of what most education systems can now offer.

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