Lurie College is excited to welcome its new Associate Dean, Marcos Pizarro, to the community!

Marcos Pizarro, Associate Dean of Lurie College

Marcos Pizarro joins Lurie College in his 20th year at San Jose State!  Most recently he was a Professor and Chair of SJSU’s Chicana and Chicano Studies. Graduating from Stanford as an undergrad, he began his teaching career as a 6th grade teacher in Inglewood, while pursuing his PhD in Education at UCLA.  Marcos’ research and community work has focused on supporting Chicanx and Latinx students at various stages in their schooling to understand how interventions can help these students develop strategies to thrive in school and create social and racial justice in their communities.  He coordinates MAESTRXS, a social justice teacher collective developing and implementing a transformative education model with Latinx communities; works with schools on the development and implementation of Latinx Studies curricula to enhance Latinx student engagement; co-coordinates the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice, a project that provides an annual training for teachers invested in transformative practice for racial justice; and is a Faculty Fellow for Chicanx/Latinx Student Success at SJSU, a multi-faceted project that offers support to students and the university to enhance Latinx student engagement and academic success.  He is excited to join Lurie College and to both support the amazing faculty and staff, and offer his expertise to help the college fulfill its mission.