Victoria DeFrancesco Soto

Victoria Maria DeFrancesco Soto (born 1978) is an American political scientist and academic administrator.[1] She is dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas.[2] She became the first Latina woman to occupy the position of Dean in a presidential institution.[3] She was previously the assistant dean for civic engagement and a senior lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.[2] In July 2025, Victoria Maria DeFrancesco Soto joined the Board of Trustees at the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).[4]

She researches immigration, women and politics, political psychology, and campaigns and elections.[2]

Early life

DeFrancesco Soto was born to Victoria and Joseph DeFrancesco in Southern Arizona.[2][5] Her mother is from Sonora.[2] She is of Italian, Jewish, and Mexican descent.[6]

Education

She completed a bachelor's degree in political science and Latin American studies at the University of Arizona.[2] She earned a master's and, with the guidance of Dr. John Aldrich and Dr. Paula D. McClain as her doctoral advisors, earned her Ph.D. in political science from the Graduate School of Duke University.[2][7] Her 2007 dissertation was titled, Do Latinos Party All the Time? The Role of Shared Ethnic Group Identity on Political.[5]

Career

In 2007, she moved to Chicago to work as an assistant professor at Northwestern University until 2011.[8] In 2013, she was a lecturer of Mexican American and Latino/a Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.[9] During her time at the University of Texas at Austin, she held various positions such as Director of Outreach, Director of Office of Civic Engagement and Assistant Dean & Chief Diversity Officer.[9]

DeFrancesco Soto is the first Latina dean of the Clinton School of Public Service.[10]

DeFrancesco Soto has been a contributor and analyst for news outlets including CNN, Telemundo, NBCNews, Fox, HBO, and Univision. Her work involves social science research.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Things I've Learned: Victoria DeFrancesco Soto". Austin Monthly Magazine. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Adame, Jaime (2021-09-17). "From 'student council nerd' to dean: Victoria DeFrancesco Soto to lead Clinton School". Arkansas Online. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  3. ↑ "Victoria M. De Francesco Soto, Ph.D." Aspen Institute. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  4. ↑ kffrainl (2025-07-21). "Victoria DeFrancesco Soto Joins KFF Board of Trustees". KFF. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
  5. 1 2 DeFrancesco Soto, Victoria Maria (2007). Do Latinos Party All the Time? The Role of Shared Ethnic Group Identity on Political (Ph.D. thesis). Graduate School of Duke University. OCLC 277343161.
  6. ↑ "Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto - Clinton School of Public Service". www.clintonschool.uasys.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  7. ↑ School, The Graduate. "Alumni Profiles Series: Victoria DeFrancesco Soto | The Graduate School". gradschool.duke.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  8. ↑ "HIGH PROFILE: Dr. Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is growing passion for the public sector in others as dean of the Clinton School of Public Service | Arkansas Democrat Gazette". www.arkansasonline.com. 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2025-03-05.
  9. 1 2 Incorporated, Prime. "National Academy of Public Administration". National Academy of Public Administration. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  10. ↑ "How I became one of the only Latina deans in the world of higher ed". MSNBC. May 3, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  11. ↑ "Victoria DeFrancesco Soto: Political Analyst, Social Scientist, and Academic Leader". Leading Authorities, Inc. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.