College of Education President’s Distinguished Professor Bernadette Sánchez Named Presidential Humanities and Social Sciences Chair
President’s Distinguished Professor Bernadette Sánchez was honored on April 15, 2025, along with Distinguished Professor Beth E. Richie of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as the inaugural Presidential Humanities and Social Sciences Chairs.
The Presidential Humanities and Social Sciences Chairs were established through an endowment from the University of Illinois president to support humanities and social sciences scholars engaged in the study of innovation and discovery.
“Professor Sánchez is a leading scholar in the role of race, ethnicity and culture and mentoring,” said Dean Kathryn Chval. “Her daily pursuits are focused on influencing the transformation of educational journeys through understanding the important role that mentoring plays in that transformation,”
“She is a highly valued, dedicated, and trusted member of the UIC faculty with a national reputation as a scholar and a thought leader in her field,” said Chval. “This distinction signals UIC’s commitment to investing in leading researchers and educators, especially those who are dedicated to the humanities and social sciences. This distinction supports cutting-edge research that will have an impact on individuals, organizations and communities.”
“Professor Sánchez’s research has transformed how we understand the power of mentorship, particularly in the lives of underrepresented youth,” said Michael Thomas, chair of the Educational Psychology department. “Her groundbreaking studies on how mentoring relationships influence academic achievement, racial-ethnic identity, and socio-emotional well-being have provided both scholars and practitioners with a deeper understanding of how to support young people effectively. Her work on mentoring as a tool for social justice has been particularly influential, challenging institutions to think critically about how mentoring programs can be designed to truly serve diverse communities.”
“Throughout my career, I have invested time to mentor students and colleagues, work with practitioners to create or improve their mentoring programs and research the art of mentoring,” said Sánchez in accepting the chair and honor. “From the start, I was attracted to mentoring due to my own observations of relationships and my own experiences that Latino and African American youth often form in their own communities with the adults who look out for them, their neighbors, their teachers, staff, their aunties and uncles who show them what’s possible, they care for them, they believe in them, especially in a world that holds them in the lowest regard and does not believe in them.”
“And I’m especially grateful to receive this award in the current sociopolitical climate and have been reflecting on what it means for UIC to select two women of color who do scholarly work on race and the negative impact of racism and other systems of oppression on the lives of African Americans and Latinos. This award is even more meaningful because my work is unlikely to be funded under this administration,” said Sánchez.