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The Latin American Institute provides an institutional base of support for UCLA's community of faculty Latin Americanists in more than thirty disciplines and professional fields in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts, and professions who conduct research and teach on Latin America and its role in the world. These scholars have an international reputation for the excellence of their research, teaching, publications, and service. Their contributions to the Latin American Institute are many, including committee service, fundraising, hosting guests, moderating public programs, and advising students.

In addition to the faculty profiles compiled here, you may wish to consult the faculty research database at the Office of Contract and Grant Administration.

Core Faculty Latin Americanists

A group of approximately 70 faculty members devote the major part of their research and teaching activity to Latin America, advise Latin American Studies students, and serve on Interdepartmental Degree committees.

Department/ Name

Rank

Regional Focus

Anthropology: 14
Harold Clark Barrett Assistant Professor Ecuador/Venezuela/Amazonia
Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett Cotsen Inst. Arch. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvdor
Carole H. Browner (joint Psychiatry) Professor Mexico/Colombia
Christopher B. Donnan Professor Peru/Andean Region
Linda Garro Professor Mexico
Marjorie H. Goodwin Professor Guatemala/Mexico
Peter B. Hammond Professor Emeritus Brazil
Allen W. Johnson Professor Brazil
Richard G. Lesure Associate Professor Mexico/Central America/Ecuador
Dwight W. Read Professor Mexico
Julia L. J. Sánchez Cotsen Inst. Arch. Guatemala/Mexico/Honduras
Charles Stanish Professor Peru/Bolivia
Bonnie Taub (joint Public Health) Adj. Asst. Professor Mex/Argentina/Uruguay/Brazil
Johannes Wilbert Professor Emeritus Venezuela/Colombia

Art History: 3
Charlene Villaseñor Black Assistant Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Cecelia F. Klein Professor Mexico
David M. Kunzle Professor Nicaragua/Cuba/Chile

Biology: 8
Donald G. Buth Professor Mexico
Martin L. Cody Professor Mex/Central America/Venezuela/Peru
Malcolm S. Gordon Professor Mexico/Chile/Ecuador
Henry A. Hespenheide Professor Costa Rica/Panama/Nicaragua
Park S. Nobel Professor Mex/Chile/Brazil/Ecuador/Peru
Larry Simpson Professor Brazil
Thomas B. Smith Professor Central America/South America
Eduardo Zeiger Professor Argentina/Brazil

Chicano Studies: 5
Judith Francisca Baca Professor Mexico
Maylei Blackwell Assistant Professor Latin America; Mexico
Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda Associate Professor Mexico
María Cristina Pons Assistant Professor Mexico/Argentina
Otto Santa Ana Associate Professor Mexico

Classics: 1
Katherine C. King Professor El Salvador/Comparative Latin America

Earth and Space Science: 1
Gary Axen Associate Professor Mexico

Economics: 5
Arnold C. Harberger Professor Chile/Mex/Comparative Latin America
Deepak Lal Professor Comparative Latin America/Mexico
Duncan Thomas Professor Brazil/Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Aaron Tornell Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Carlos A. Végh Professor Uruguay/Arg/Comparative Latin America

Education: 6
John N. Hawkins Professor Mexico
Peter McLaren Professor Brazil
Robert Rhoads Associate Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Daniel Solórzano Professor Mexico
Carlos Alberto Torres Professor Argentina/Brazil/Mexico/Cuba
Concepción Valadez Associate Professor Mexico/Brazil/Paraguay

Engineering: 3
Alfonso F. Cárdenas Professor Brazil/Argentina/Peru/Mexico
Mario Gerla Professor Brazil/Mexico/Colombia
Daniel E. Pradel Adj. Assoc. Professor Mexico

Ethnomusicology: 3

Jacqueline Cogdell Djedje Professor Brazil/Dominican Republic
Steven Loza Professor Mex/Brazil/Cuba
Anthony Seeger Professor Brazil

Film, Television, and Digital Media: 4
Chon A. Noriega Professor Mexico
Jorge R. Prelorán Professor Emeritus Ecuador/Argentina
Robert Rosen Professor Comparative Latin America
Fabián Wagmister Associate Professor Arg/Central America/Cuba

Geography: 5
Stephen Bell Associate Professor Brazil/Uruguay/Arg/Mex
Charles F. Bennett Professor Emeritus Brazil/Central America/Mexico
Judith A. Carney Professor Mexico
Tom Gillespie Associate Professor Mexico/Cen. Am/Caribbean
Hartmut S. Walter Professor Mexico/Brazil/Central America

History: 9
Robin L.H. Derby Assistant Professor Dom. Rep./Cen. Am./Cuba
Juan Gómez-Quiñones Professor Mexico
Robert B. Hill Associate Professor Central America/Cuba/Comparative Latin America
James Lockhart Professor Emeritus Mexico/Peru
José Moya Associate Professor Argentina
William R. Summerhill Professor Brazil
Teofilo F. Ruiz Professor Spain, Portugal
Kevin Terraciano Associate Professor Mexico
James W. Wilkie Professor Mexico/Bolivia/Comparative Latin America

Information Studies: 2
Clara M. Chu Associate Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
John V. Richardson, Jr. Professor Comparative Latin America

Law: 4
Patrick Del Duca Lecturer Mexico
Laura Gomez Professor Mexico
Máximo Langer Acting Professor Argentina/Comparative Latin America
Arthur Rosett Professor Argentina/Comparative Latin America

Linguistics and Applied Linguistics: 3
Roger W. Andersen Professor Andean Region/Venezuela
Jaime Luis Daza Language Assistant Bolivia/Andean Region
Pamela L. Munro Professor Mexico/Paraguay

Management: 6
Sebastian Edwards Professor Chile/Mex/Comparative Latin America
Dominique M. Hanssens Professor Mexico
Edward Leamer Professor Mexico/Argentina
Alfred E. Osborne Associate Professor Panama/Central America
Hans Schollhammer Professor Mexico
Eduardo Schwartz Professor Comparative Latin America

Medicine: 4
Edwin L. Cooper Professor Brazil/Mexico/Argentina/Peru
Patrick Dowling Professor Mexico
David Hayes-Bautista Professor Mexico
Robert M. Stein Visiting Professor Mexico

Music and Musicology: 2
Walter Ponce Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Robert M. Stevenson Professor Emeritus Mexico/Comparative Latin America

Political Science: 3
Barbara Geddes Professor Southern Cone/Comparative Latin America
Raymond A. Rocco Associate Professor Costa Rica/Central America/Mex
Mark Q. Sawyer Assistant Professor Mexico/Cuba

Psychiatry/Behavioral Science: 2
Carole H. Browner Professor Mexico
Marvin Karno Professor Mexico

Psychology: 3
Paul R. Abramson Professor
Christine Dunkel-Schetter Professor Mexico
Patricia Greenfield Professor Mexico

Public Health–Community Health: 7
Lester Breslow Professor Emeritus Mexico
Isabelle F. Hunt Professor Emeritus Mexico
Snehendu B. Kar Professor Brazil
Donald E. Morisky Professor Brazil
Alfred K. Neumann Professor Emeritus Brazil
Anne R. Pebley Professor Guatemala
Bonnie Taub Adj. Asst. Professor Mex/Argentina/Uruguay/Brazil

Public Health–Environmental Health: 3
Climis A. Davos Professor Mexico
John R. Froines Professor Mexico
Jane L. Valentine Associate Professor Mexico

Public Health–Epidemiology: 3
Roger Detels Professor Brazil/Chile
Ralph R. Frerichs Professor Bolivia/Colombia/Honduras

Social Welfare: 3
Rosina M. Becerra Professor Mexico
Diane De Anda Professor Mexico
Fernando Torres-Gil Professor Mexico

Sociology: 7
Rodolfo Alvarez Professor Mexico
César Ayala Associate Professor Spanish Caribbean
Rubén Hernández-León Assistant Professor Mexico
David Lopez Professor Brazil
Edward Telles Professor Brazil/Mex
Andreas Wimmer Professor Comp. LA/Mexico/Guatemala
Maurice Zeitlin Professor Chile

Spanish and Portuguese: 20
Shirley L. Arora Professor Emerita Mexico/Andean Region
Rubén Benítez Professor Emeritus Argentina
Adriana J. Bergero Professor Argentina/Uruguay/Mexico
Michelle Clayton Assistant Professor Peru/Argentina/Comparative Latin America
Verónica Cortínez Professor Chile/Argentina/Mexico
José M. Cruz-Salvadores Lecturer Comparative Latin America, Spain
Guillermo E. Hernández Professor Mexico
Claude L. Hulet Professor Emeritus Brazil
Randal Johnson Professor Brazil
Efraín Kristal (joint Comp. Lit.) Professor Peru/Mexico
Gerardo Luzuriaga Professor Emeritus Ecuador/Mexico/Central America
Elizabeth A. Marchant Associate Professor Brazil
Anna H. More Assistant Professor Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Carlos P. Otero Professor Emeritus Mexico
Claudia Parodi-Lewin Professor Mexico/Lang Acquisit/Testing
Susan Plann Professor Mexico, Spain
Antonio Carlos Quicoli Professor Brazil
John Skirius Associate Professor Mexico
Paul C. Smith Assoc. Prof. Emeritus Lang Acquisition/Testing

Theater Arts: 3
Teshome Gabriel Professor Brazil
José Luis Valenzuela Professor Mexico
Edit Villarreal Associate Professor Mexico

Urban Planning: 5
Stephen Commins Lecturer Mexico
Leobardo Estrada Associate Professor Mexico/Central America
Susanna Hecht Professor Brazil/Central America/Mexico/Bolivia
Edward W. Soja Professor Comparative Latin America
Michael Storper Professor Brazil

World Arts and Cultures: 2
Liliana León-Torsiello Lecturer Mexico/Comparative Latin America
Marta Elena Savigliano Professor Argentina