Adriana Villavicencio

Dr. Adriana Villavicencio is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Her research is focused on K-12 educational policy and practice that deepen or disrupt inequities for students who are typically marginalized because of race, ethnicity, and immigration status. Specifically, she uses mixed-methods designs and community-engaged approaches to study the implementation and impact of models and interventions that aim to meet the needs of historically marginalized students, while highlighting the voices and experiences of educators, families, and students.   

Dr. Villavicencio has received over $12 million in grants from several different funding sources, including the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation. She is the author of the award-winning book, Am I My Brother’s Keeper: Educational Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Brown Boys (Harvard Education Press). Her work has also appeared in a number of peer-reviewed journals, including American Educational Research Journal, Educational Policy, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, and Urban Education. In addition, her work has has been cited by notable news outlets such as The Washington Post, Politico, Newsweek, and El Diario, and education outlets such as Education Week, Chalkbeat, and Diverse Issues in Higher Education. 

Dr. Villavicencio is the recipient of the 2025 Jack A. Culbertson Early Career Award from UCEA. Her book was named the 2022 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Award and the Choice Editors’ Pick by the Association of College and Research Libraries. In 2024, she received a Best Paper Award from the Org Theory SIG of the American Educational Research Association. In addition, she received an Outstanding Reviewer Award from Review of Educational Research in 2024 and 2025. At the University of California, she was a recipient of the Hellman Fellowship, a Faculty Mentorship Award for Inclusive Excellence, and an Outstanding Emerging Faculty Award. As a graduate student, she was a Barbara Jackson Scholar and David Clark Scholar as well as recipient of the Founders Fellowship at NYU. 

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Villavicencio was an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of California Irvine. For nearly a decade, she conducted research at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools at NYU—a research-practice partnership with the NYC Department of Education— and served as Deputy Director of the Research Alliance from 2016-2019. She began her career in education as a middle and high school English teacher in Brooklyn, New York; Oakland, California; and Bangalore, India. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from NYU Steinhardt; an M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a B.A. in English from Columbia University.