Gloria Lopez, PhD

Dr. Gloria Lopez  is a first-generation college graduate, a Latina of Salvadoran and Mexican descent, and an Assistant Professor of History at Chico State. Dr. Lopez specializes in twentieth-century US History, the history of museums and historic sites, and the history of Los Angeles. 

In 2023-24, thanks to special funding from Chico State's Graduation Initiative, Dr. Lopez will serve as the Honors Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Faculty Fellow, and partner with the Office of Admissions to provide outreach in Spanish to families of high school seniors within an approximately thirty-mile radius of Chico, with a special focus on high schools in Hispanic-Serving School Districts (HSSDs).

The Honors Program plays a major role in meeting campus goals relating to graduation rates of underrepresented and first-generation students. For example, 54.5% of the 2016-17 underrepresented minority Honors cohort graduated in four years, compared to 25.4% university wide; and 45.5% of the 2016-17 first-generation Honors cohort graduated in four years, compared to 27.5% university wide. In other words, the Honors Program is a major driver of equitable graduation rates at Chico State, and as the Honors HSI Faculty Fellow Dr. Lopez will expand and institutionalize the benefits of Honors Program participation to Latinx/é students in the Chico State service area.