Marta Tienda's research interests include ethnic and racial stratification, poverty and social policy, and the sociology of employment and labor markets. Currently she is conducting a longitudinal evaluation of the Texas top 10% law, which grants all seniors who graduate in the top decile of their class automatic admission to any Texas public university. She recently chaired a National Academy of Sciences Panel on the U.S. Hispanic Population. Currently, Tienda is trustee of Brown University, the Jacobs Foundation of Switzerland, and the Sloan Foundation, and a Director of TIAA.

She is co-author of several books and monographs including; Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies (NAS, 2006), Hispanics and the Future of America (NAS, 2006), Africa on the Move (Wits, 2006), Ethnicity and Causal Mechanisms (Cambridge, 2005), Youth in Cities (Cambridge, 2002), The Color of Opportunity (Chicago, 2001), Divided Opportunities (Plenum, 1988), The Hispanic Population of the United States (Russell Sage, 1987), and Hispanics in the U.S. Economy (Academic, 1985). Ph.D. University of Texas, Austin.