The Team

Dr. Elvira de Mejía

University of Illinois System I-MMÁS Founder & Director of Institutional Relations-Mexico, Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Division of Nutritional Sciences, University Scholar, former Presidential Fellow

Dr. Elvira de Mejia is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Dr. de Mejia served as an Assistant Dean for Research, actively involved in mentoring undergraduate students in research, and junior faculty. Dr. de Mejia functioned as the Director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences, a prestigious University of Illinois interdisciplinary graduate and research program. She is a University Scholar, a former UI System Presidential Fellow, and Institute of Food Technologists Fellow. She is considered a world leader in the health benefits of bioactive compounds from plant foods. She is a firm believer in providing the best learning experience to her students so they can excel in their educational experience, and in turn become more competitive in the job market and make a positive difference in society. She dedicates her research to reducing disease and promoting health and wellness as a global priority. Dr. de Mejia has an outstanding global academic reputation as evidenced by various tasks performed as an external referee for grant applications and member of grant review committees.

Dr. de Mejia believes I-MMÁS represents a culture of support, building pipelines for Mexican and Mexican American students, smoothing the path, and retaining as many talented students as possible. Building a network of collaborators. I-MMÁS is about partnering in collaboration with our colleagues in Mexico. I-MMÁS will enhance ongoing efforts by the System’s three Universities to increase Mexican and Mexican American recruitment and expand their educational opportunities. The mission of I-MMÁS is to enhance educational, cultural, scientific, technical, and social collaborations among the University of Illinois System, Mexican academic institutions, and students, by building and sustaining a large-scale presence in education and research with participating institutions.

Dr. Moises Orozco Villicaña

Lead for Recruitment and Building Relationships in the US

Moises Orozco Villicaña, Ph.D., has successfully held progressively responsible administrative roles in both student and academic affairs at public four-year and two-year institutions of higher education over the past 17 years. He is an accomplished administrator that welcomes the opportunity to provide prospective students with the information and resources they need to successfully navigate the college application process at both the undergraduate and graduate level. His work also demonstrates a deep passion and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2022, he was appointed as the Director of Recruitment and Outreach for the University of Illinois Chicago, which is both a Hispanic Serving Institution and a Minority Serving Institution. Prior to UIC, he served as the inaugural Director of Enrollment Management for the School of Information Sciences at UIUC. He also holds numerous leadership roles in regional and national associations.

Recruitment and Building Relationships in the US: The subgroup seeks to establish ties with both in-state and domestic institutions, organizations, and individuals to foster advantageous relations with both the University of Illinois System and the I-MMÁS initiative. The US recruitment subcommittee is composed of faculty and staff across the University of Illinois System that works collaboratively to identify innovative approaches to recruit and enroll Mexican and Mexican American prospective students to undergraduate and graduate programs in all three campuses in the U of I System. The US Recruitment subcommittee leverages institutional resources and best practices to broaden the visibility of the University of Illinois System to prospective Mexican and Mexican American students.

Dr. Leonardo Chamorro

Lead for Funding and Engaging the Private Sector

Dr. Chamorro is an Associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is affiliated with the Departments of Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Geology. His research interests include turbulence, particle dynamics, boundary layer processes, aerodynamics, turbulence and structure interaction, wind energy, marine and hydrokinetic energies, and the development of advanced flow diagnostics. He has published ~120 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, has participated in over 125 presentations in technical symposia, and serves as the fellowship panel's scientific chair on Energy, Electrical Eng, Electronics and Mechanics (W&T7) at the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) in Belgium and in the board of directors of the UMERC (University Marine Energy Research Community). Chamorro is Associate Editor of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, the Journal Frontiers in Energy Research, the Journal of Energy Engineering, and an academic editor and member of the editorial board of the journal Energies. He has been a reviewer of forty peer-reviewed journals. He leads the Renewable Energy and Turbulent Environment group, which uses a versatile experimental approach that combines state-of-the-art techniques, including 2D/3D particle image velocimetry, computer vision, and 3D particle tracking velocimetry.

Securing Funding & Engaging Private Sector: The subgroup is exploring various strategies to secure funding and support from the industry and other entities for the I-MMÁS mission. These strategies include industry-led and capstone projects, direct discussions with industry leaders, collaborations with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), engagement with renowned faculty in Mexico, collaborative proposals, and technical consulting.

Dr. Benjamin E. Ramirez

Lead for Mentoring & Extended Support

Ben is a native of the Chicago area from a large family whose parents immigrated from Mexico to the United States in 1952.  He attended UIUC for undergraduate studies majoring in Chemistry (B.S. 1992).  He went on to obtain a doctorate degree in Chemistry at the California Institute for Technology in 1997. Afterwards, he pursued postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD.  Ben has worked at UIC since 2004.  Most of that time was spent as the Director of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility in the Center for Structural Biology.  In 2018, Ben was selected to be in the first cohort of the UI System Academic Professional Leadership Program.  Last year, Ben began a new role in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in the College of Medicine at UIC as Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives and Facilities & Equipment.  Ben also holds an appointment as a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.

Mentoring & Extended Support: The subgroup will recommend, implement and monitor these initial mentoring development programs: i) attempt to identify faculty or staff member willing to serve as mentors for Mexican and Mexican-American graduate student in addition to their research adviser and ii) establish a peer mentoring program, where current, older students serve/act as mentors to new, incoming or transfer students for both Mexican and Mexican-American undergraduate and graduate students. The subgroup also sees a need to have a centralized location for student advising, course recommendations and training/research opportunities.

Dr. José Andino

Building Relationships in Mexico 

Dr. Andino completed three years of chemistry studies at the University of El Salvador in the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy before transferring to the University of Louisville as a Fulbright undergraduate scholar and completed a BS degree in Chemistry with concentration in Biotechnology in 1997. After working for one year at the University of El Salvador and Universidad José Matías Delgado, he returned to Louisville to obtain a PhD degree with emphasis in organometallic chemistry of CO2 under supervision of Prof. Dorothy Gibson in 2005. After a postdoctoral stint at Indiana University, José taught General, Organic and Organometallic Chemistry at Lamar University for two years. José joined the General Chemistry teaching faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2014. 
“I think that a successful interaction with students relies on being passionate about what we do and I feel compelled to show students chemistry can well be their passion too. I believe we are at a great moment in time for chemistry education. Technology allows us to convey ideas in ways that could otherwise be challenging. This evolving state-of-the-art technology guarantees that the chemistry educator will constantly require to advance to be able to offer the most to their students.”

Building Relationships in Mexico: The subgroup focuses on creating new avenues to attract Mexican students to the UI System. We have plans to expand to High Schools and continue to establish new relationships with Mexican institutions to attract graduate students by communicating with their undergraduate students.

Nancy Xochitl Salinas Rios

Visiting I-MMÁS Specialist

Nancy Salinas works in a role critical to ensuring the operational effectiveness and success of the I-MMÁS initiative at the University of Illinois System and its three universities. She serves the Office of the President and supports the development and furtherance of the I-MMÁS program. 

She joined I-MMÁS to enhance educational, cultural, scientific, technical, and social collaborations within the University of Illinois System, hoping to create educational opportunities for Mexican academic institutions and Mexican-American students. Her additional interests include biology, plants, and science in general. Nancy enjoys traveling, riding her bike, trying new foods, and teaching the Spanish language as a volunteer. 

 

 

SUBGROUP MEMBERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I-MMÁS would like to recognize and acknowledge the work of former team members, including that of Dr. Xiomara Cervantes, Dr. Nic Flores, Ana Irene Mitchell, Caterina Kim, Maribel Barragan, and Roxanne Patino. We are grateful for your efforts toward this important initiative and honor each of you and your contributions. Thank you!