Associate Professor in the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies in the College of Applied Arts at Texas State University
About
Dr. Omar S. López grew up in south Texas along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, in one of the poorest counties in the U.S. His daily observations of the effects from poverty on children and families left a definitive mark on his career decisions. Dr. López’ academic training includes the physical sciences, management, and education. This prepared him to work in different sectors as engineer, business consultant, and education policy researcher. While these occupations provided a way to make a living, his south Texas experiences gave him the passion to seek a meaningful life where his work could focus on using transdisciplinary methodologies to solve some of the thorniest problems confronting society's most vulnerable populations. The result is that his publications are diverse, having published in the fields of educational technology, economics of education, teacher education accountability, higher education sustainability, and family studies.
Current Work:
Dr. López is an associate professor in the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies in the College of Applied Arts at Texas State University. His scholarship currently focuses on disparities between the federal standards and procedures required for intervention studies and principles of culturally responsive and equitable evaluation. He was recently recognized with a Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching and plans to launch a new course, Civic Engagement as Global Citizenship in the coming year. Among his varied service commitments, he serves on a Regional Advisory Committee to the president for a community college system.
Research Area Keyword(s):
STEM workplace skills; culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE); competency-based education (CBE); civic engagement; data analytics
