Alfonso Gonzáles Toribio, associate professor of ethnic studies, received a recognition from the Midwest Political Science Association, or MPSA.

According to the awards committee, MPSA granted him the Distinguished Career Award for being a “Latino politics scholar who has made a substantial contribution to the scholarship, who has made significant contributions to the profession and its associations, who has actively mentored scholars in their own institution or elsewhere, and who serves as a positive role model in the profession.”

Gonzáles Toribio is the Ronald H. Chilcote Endowed Chair in Latino and Latin American Studies and is the Director of the Latino and American Studies Research Center. 

MPSA was created to promote the interests of Latino/a political scientists, encouraging research that acknowledges and investigates the presence and activities of Latino/a in political life, and serving as a network for members between annual meetings.

“The Awards Committee was thoroughly impressed by Dr. Alfonso Gonzáles Toribio’s holistic record as a scholar, educator, and community organizer. In addition to the scholarly impact of his award-winning book, “Reform without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State” (Oxford University Press, 2013), Dr. Gonzáles Toribio has helped bolster a vibrant academic community at University of California, Riverside’s Latin American Studies Program and Ethnic Studies Department. We laud Dr. Gonzáles Toribio for his ability to create strong linkages between academic and immigrant communities through community-sustaining research and public scholarship.”