Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz
President UH Downtown
President UH Downtown
HESS Club
April 4, 2019
April 4, 2019
Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz was appointed as UHD’s sixth president in February 2017. In a short time, he has helped expand the institution’s reputation in the city of Houston and throughout the state. Thanks to a revised strategic plan and campus visits from legislators, civic leaders and city officials, UHD has gained visibility as a University that is affordable, accessible and achievable.
A few months into his presidency, Dr. Muñoz led the University through its recovery from Tropical Storm Harvey. Through his leadership, UHD, which sustained significant damage, opened just one week after the storm flooded areas of Houston.
Since his arrival at UHD, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) honored the University with a Recognition of Excellence and the Star Award. THECB also awarded UHD with a Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Grant.
Dr. Muñoz also was at the helm as UHD posted its first enrollment increase in four years in 2018 and as it exceeded its largest capital campaign goal. Also, he is helping grow UHD through $80 million in capital projects with more in development.
A few months into his presidency, Dr. Muñoz led the University through its recovery from Tropical Storm Harvey. Through his leadership, UHD, which sustained significant damage, opened just one week after the storm flooded areas of Houston.
Since his arrival at UHD, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) honored the University with a Recognition of Excellence and the Star Award. THECB also awarded UHD with a Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Grant.
Dr. Muñoz also was at the helm as UHD posted its first enrollment increase in four years in 2018 and as it exceeded its largest capital campaign goal. Also, he is helping grow UHD through $80 million in capital projects with more in development.
To build relationships within area school districts, Dr. Muñoz has visited more than 30 high schools within a 50-mile radius of UHD. Likewise, his commitment to supporting transfer students has deepened the University’s relationships with the region’s major community college systems. These enhanced partnerships are significantly increasing transfer student success at UHD.
Outside of the University, Dr. Muñoz serves on several boards and committees focused on enhancing the Houston’s economic and cultural landscapes and national organizations aimed at academic excellence. He is an Executive Committee Member for the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities’ Commission on Access, Diversity, and Excellence; a Host Committee Member for the Houston Holocaust Museum; a Board Member for the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities; and a Board Member for Central Houston. He also serves on the Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board; the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s Armed Forces Committee; and the Greater Houston Partnership’s Higher Education Committee, and the Regional Economic Development Committee.
Prior to UHD, Dr. Muñoz served as a Senior Vice President and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education & Student Affairs at Texas Tech University (TTU) supervising more than 40 units and departments. At TTU, he also served as a Full Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and was an inductee of the TTU Teaching Academy.
Before arriving in the Lone Star State, Dr. Muñoz was also a faculty member in the Department of Secondary Education at California State University Fullerton. His research interests examine the education of at-risk students and the learning needs of ethnically and linguistically diverse students.
Dr. Muñoz earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After returning from military service in the U.S. Marine Corps during the 1990-91 Gulf Crisis, he attended California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in Mexican-American Studies with an emphasis in literature. He completed his Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied Curriculum & Instruction in the Division of Urban Schooling.
Prior to attending UCLA, Dr. Muñoz was a secondary school teacher, an instructor in the California Community College system, and an adjunct faculty member at Pacific Oakes and Whittier Colleges.
Dr. Muñoz's scholarship has appeared in academic journals, books, encyclopedias, and at national conferences. He is the author of more than 96 book chapters, academic articles, refereed and invited conference presentations. In 2010, Dr. Muñoz was among the contributing editors of the seminal compilation, Handbook of Latinos and Education, Routledge. The Handbook received the coveted American Association of Educational Studies' prestigious Critic's Choice Book Award. His recent text, Perspectives in Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies, explores disciplinary responses and emerging academic offerings that foster interdisciplinary learning.
Dr. Muñoz is married to Dr. Zenaida Aguirre- Muñoz, associate professor at the University of Houston’s College of Education. They have three sons Joaquin Diego Muñoz, Cruz Santos Muñoz, and Juan Amado Muñoz.
Outside of the University, Dr. Muñoz serves on several boards and committees focused on enhancing the Houston’s economic and cultural landscapes and national organizations aimed at academic excellence. He is an Executive Committee Member for the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities’ Commission on Access, Diversity, and Excellence; a Host Committee Member for the Houston Holocaust Museum; a Board Member for the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities; and a Board Member for Central Houston. He also serves on the Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board; the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s Armed Forces Committee; and the Greater Houston Partnership’s Higher Education Committee, and the Regional Economic Development Committee.
Prior to UHD, Dr. Muñoz served as a Senior Vice President and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education & Student Affairs at Texas Tech University (TTU) supervising more than 40 units and departments. At TTU, he also served as a Full Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and was an inductee of the TTU Teaching Academy.
Before arriving in the Lone Star State, Dr. Muñoz was also a faculty member in the Department of Secondary Education at California State University Fullerton. His research interests examine the education of at-risk students and the learning needs of ethnically and linguistically diverse students.
Dr. Muñoz earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After returning from military service in the U.S. Marine Corps during the 1990-91 Gulf Crisis, he attended California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in Mexican-American Studies with an emphasis in literature. He completed his Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied Curriculum & Instruction in the Division of Urban Schooling.
Prior to attending UCLA, Dr. Muñoz was a secondary school teacher, an instructor in the California Community College system, and an adjunct faculty member at Pacific Oakes and Whittier Colleges.
Dr. Muñoz's scholarship has appeared in academic journals, books, encyclopedias, and at national conferences. He is the author of more than 96 book chapters, academic articles, refereed and invited conference presentations. In 2010, Dr. Muñoz was among the contributing editors of the seminal compilation, Handbook of Latinos and Education, Routledge. The Handbook received the coveted American Association of Educational Studies' prestigious Critic's Choice Book Award. His recent text, Perspectives in Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies, explores disciplinary responses and emerging academic offerings that foster interdisciplinary learning.
Dr. Muñoz is married to Dr. Zenaida Aguirre- Muñoz, associate professor at the University of Houston’s College of Education. They have three sons Joaquin Diego Muñoz, Cruz Santos Muñoz, and Juan Amado Muñoz.