Your primo is now the Dean at UCLA!

Please join us in sending a very special FELICIDADES to our primo Abel Valenzuela Jr. who was just selected as the University of California Los Angeles’ newest Dean of Social Sciences!  Your family could not be any more proud of all your achievements, primo!  We are your biggest fans!

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A note from UCLA’s Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt:

A member of faculty for a remarkable 30 years, Dean Valenzuela holds appointments in the César E. Chávez Department for Chicana/o and Central American Studies as well as in Labor Studies in the UCLA College Division of Social Sciences. He also holds an appointment in the Department of Urban Planning at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. In addition to serving as interim dean, he has held several other academic leadership positions including chairing Chicana/o and Central American studies for two terms and directing the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. Dean Valenzuela was also special advisor to the chancellor on immigration policy, contributing to student success among immigrant, undocumented and international students.

As director of UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) for six years, he oversaw labor studies, the Labor Center, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) and the Human Resources Round Table, which are dedicated to advancing research, teaching and service on labor and employment issues in Los Angeles and beyond. During his leadership, IRLE successfully purchased and renamed the downtown labor center as the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center. The Labor Center and LOSH generated millions in extramural research grants and contracts under Dean Valenzuela’s leadership, and the IRLE and labor studies launched a successful major for undergraduates — the first of its kind within the University of California.

A leading expert on immigrant and low-wage workers, Dean Valenzuela continues to contribute to national public and policy conversations and has published numerous articles and reports on immigrant settlement, labor market outcomes, urban poverty and inequality. His scholarship has shaped research on itinerant workers, worker centers and immigrant work. His studies have engaged local stakeholders and community-based organizations, and influenced policy and legislation on issues related to labor, social stratification, race, poverty and neighborhood change. Dean Valenzuela earned his B.A. from UC Berkeley and his master’s and Ph.D. in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Please join us in congratulating Abel on his many achievements as he takes on the role of permanent dean.”