Dr. Patricia A. Pérez received her doctorate in Higher Education and Organizational Change from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Her dissertation focused on the college choice process of Chicana and Chicano community college, transfer and university students in public postsecondary institutions in California. Dr. Pérez is the recipient of the 2008 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education/Educational Testing Service Kurt M. Landgraf Outstanding Dissertation Award. Born and raised in Ventura County, California, Dr. Pérez is a first-generation college student from Santa Paula, the "citrus capital of the world," with family roots in Guanajuato and Sonora, México, as well as southern Arizona. She received a B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and an Ed.M. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education with an emphasis in Administration, Planning and Social Policy. While a doctoral student she served as a research analyst for the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. Before joining UCLA, Dr. Pérez worked in student affairs at the Stanford University School of Medicine and for the Upward Bound program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Pérez teaches courses on Chicana/o and Latina/o education and gender using critical and feminist theoretical frameworks. Currently, Dr. Pérez is Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Coordinator of the H&SS College Office of Equity & Diversity.