Michelle M. Camacho

Background

About Michelle M. Camacho

With nearly two decades of experience in higher education leadership, I have a record fostering academic excellence, public engagement, and spearheading strategic initiatives that enhance student success, faculty development, and external partnerships. I am deeply committed to championing a liberal arts and sciences mission by fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to drive impactful research and innovation. I have a record of successful fundraising contributions to support scholarships, research, faculty advancement, and the expansion of mental health outreach programs. My leadership philosophy is rooted in a commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments that prepare students for meaningful careers and civic engagement. Prior to my role as Dean, I served in a leadership capacity at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where I managed multi-million-dollar STEM education programs, cultivated partnerships with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and co-authored a strategic plan for the US Congress aimed at improving higher education access for student veterans. My time at NSF also involved working closely with research institutions, government agencies, and community partners to develop policies and programs that enhance STEM diversity, workforce development, and interdisciplinary research collaboration. In my academic career, I have played a pivotal role in curriculum development, faculty mentorship, and the implementation of student retention strategies. I have secured federal funding for various research projects that focus on student success, STEM education diversity, data science workforce development, and institutional transformation through an NSF ADVANCE grant. Throughout the duration of my career, my own research has been interdisciplinary and I am grateful to funding sources through: the Fulbright Scholars program; UCI Humanities Research Fellowship; Sigma XI: Society for Scientific Research; Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (Cornell University); and a UC MEXUS grant for binational research. I also received funding from the National Science Foundation for 15 years consecutively. In 2015 I was selected to be a Fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE Fellow), a program that connected me with public policies and innovative practices of change in higher education.