Ivan Valdovinos Gutierrez

Ivan Valdovinos Gutierrez is a scholar-practitioner with over a decade of experience working in higher education. Ivan has worked as the Director of several college access programs, including TRIO Student Support Services (SSS), Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program, and the Title V Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) STEM Exito program across community colleges in California and Washington State. His experiences as a first-generation, low-income student of color, combined with his experiences as a community college administrator, shape his research agenda.

His research centers on issues of equity and justice in higher education, with a particular focus on how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) transform their organizational structures and practices to foster transfer equity, ensuring that students of color—especially those transferring from community colleges—experience meaningful support, inclusion, and success throughout their academic journeys.

Ivan earned his PhD in Education from the University of California, San Diego, a Master of Education Policy and Management from Harvard University, and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from Washington State University.