Dr. Lorena Oropeza has graciously agreed to serve as the next Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies, effective July 1, 2025!
Dr. Oropeza is an award-winning historian whose research sits at the intersection of race, empire, and Chicano Studies. She is the author of ¡Raza Sí! ¡Guerra No! Chicano Protest and Patriotism during the Vietnam War Era (2005) and The King of Adobe: Reis López Tijerina, Lost Prophet of the Chicano Movement (2019), and is currently at work on A Mexican History of The United States
Dr. Oropeza joined the Berkeley faculty in 2022, after over 25 years at UC Davis, where she was a professor of History and, most recently, the Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Diversity. Since arriving at Berkeley, Dr. Oropeza has been an instant and impactful leader and program builder, serving as coordinator of the Chicanx Latinx Studies Program, the co-lead of the Latinx and Democracy Cluster, and the faculty lead of the Berkeley Faculty Writing Collective.
The Department is in great hands with this visionary, collaborative, and creative leader!
May 8, 2025