The Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Mentor Award is presented annually by the APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession to recognize the exemplary mentoring of Latino y Latina students and junior faculty each year. The award is named in honor of Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell, the first Latina to earn a PhD in political science. Dr. Betina Cutaia Wilkinson was awarded for exemplary mentoring of undergraduate students. Dr. Angie Torres-Beltran was awarded for exemplary mentoring of graduate students.
Angie Torres-Beltran is an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. She holds a B.A. from the University of Central Florida and Ph.D. from Cornell University.
“She models what it means to succeed in the academy without losing yourself, to be unapologetically Latina, PhD-educated and deeply committed to lifting others as you climb,” states Raymundo Lopez, a graduate student at the University of Michigan.
Bruna Dalmas, a graduate student at Indiana University, also shares, “Academia can often feel isolating and harsh for people from marginalized backgrounds. But thanks to people like Angie, we are making strides toward a more supportive and accessible environment… She consistently made an effort to support me whenever she could, whether by reading my applications, offering academic advice, or helping me navigate important decisions. She deeply cares about the success of the community she is working so hard to build and generously shares her successful application materials, never keeping that knowledge to herself.”
Torres-Beltran is also a Research Affiliate in the Gender and Security Sector Lab and in the Eliminating Violence Against Women Lab. Her award-winning research examines how gender and violence shape political behavior and development in Latin America and Mexico, in particular. Her research has been published in Political Science Research and Methods, International Studies Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, among others, and has been featured in Nexos and The Washington Post.
Alejandra López Villegas, a faculty member at Lake Forest College, notes how, “Angie approaches mentoring with care, intentionality, and a strong sense of purpose. She understands that the ‘hidden curriculum’ of academia often remains inaccessible to many students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds. Angie actively works to dismantle those barriers and helped us understand how to navigate conferences, prepare materials for the job market, and build professional networks. She did all of these things not only by sharing her own experiences and insights in informal settings, but also by creating accessible, sustainable programming has laid the foundation for future cohorts to be able to access these skills.”
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Dr. Beltran-Torres for her tireless dedication to graduate students and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline.