President Barack Obama has appointed Wilson School Professor Marta Tienda and Advisory Council member and graduate alumna Lisette Nieves to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Tienda is the Maurice P. During '22 Professor of Demographic Studies and Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Nieves, MPA '01, is the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College.

The Commissioners are tasked with advising President Obama and Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan on how to improve academic excellence and opportunities for Hispanic students across the country. The commissioners will work closely with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics to meet President Obama’s goals for the nation to have the best-educated workforce in the world by 2020, and to once again lead the world in the number of college graduates.
 
In a statement about the appointments to the Advisory Commission, President Obama noted, “The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

More than one in five students in the country’s public elementary, middle and high schools are Hispanic. Less than half of all Hispanic students are enrolled in any early learning program. Only about half earn their high school diploma on time and only four percent have completed graduate or professional degree programs.
 
White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics Director Juan Sepúlveda said the Commission will chart ways to increase Hispanic educational attainment, which is important for the country’s economy.
 
“The Commission will identify ways to strengthen our country. Hispanic students have graduated at lower rates than the rest of the population for years, making America’s progress impossible if they continue to lag behind,” said Sepúlveda. “Strengthening and improving educational excellence in this community isn’t just a Hispanic problem. It’s a challenge for our entire country.”
 
The Advisory Commission will be responsible for:
 

• Developing, implementing and coordinating educational programs and initiatives at the Department of Education and other agencies to improve educational opportunities for Hispanics of all ages;

• Increasing the participation of the Hispanic community and Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Department of Education programs and in education programs at other agencies;

• Engaging the philanthropic, business, nonprofit and education communities in a national dialogue regarding the mission and objectives of this order; and

• Establishing partnerships with public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit stakeholders to meet the mission and policy objectives of this order.

Dr. Tienda and Ms. Nieves were two of 16 members recently sworn in as commissioners by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Court’s first Hispanic justice, on May 26th.
   

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Marta Tienda is the Maurice P. During ’22 Professor of Demographic Studies and Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University.  Dr. Tienda is also the founding Director of the Program in Latino Studies at Princeton University.  She has held tenured appointments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and at the University of Chicago.  Earlier in her career, Dr. Tienda was the President of the Population Association of America, served as Director of Princeton University’s Office of Population Research, and chaired the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Hispanics.  She has published over 175 scholarly papers and monographs and edited multiple volumes.  Dr. Tienda is currently a trustee of the Sloan Foundation and the Jacobs Foundation of Switzerland.  She holds a B.A. from Michigan State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin.

Lisette Nieves, the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College, also currently serves as Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Blue Ridge Foundation.   Previously, she served as the founding executive director for Year Up NY, a workforce and education program for young adults.  From 2002 to 2004, Ms. Nieves served as chief of staff at the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) for New York City.  Earlier in her career, she was the director of Special Projects at the After School Corporation in New York.  Ms. Nieves currently serves as the vice-chair of New York City’s Panel for Education Policy, a trustee of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, member of the Year Up National Board and member of the Advisory Council at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School.  She was a Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Scholar.  Ms. Nieves was the recipient of a John F. Kennedy Jr. Hero Award from the Robin Hood Foundation, and El Diario’s Mujeres Destacadas Award from La Opinion.  She holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College and an M.P.A. ’01 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.

Other individuals appointed by President Obama to the Commission include Eduardo J. Padrón (chair) and César Conde of Fla.; Francisco G. Cigarroa., Ricardo Romo, Sylvia Acevedo and JoAnn Gama of Texas; Darline P. Robles and Patricia Gándara of Calif.; Alicia Abella of N.J.; Luis R. Fraga of Wash.; Maria Neira of N.Y.; Daniel Cardinali of Va.; Manny Sanchez of Ill.; and Alfredo J. Artiles of Ariz.