Cristina Alfaro

Affiliation

SDSU

Track

Biography

Cristina Alfaro, Ph.D. is the Associate Vice-President of International Affairs at San Diego State University where she also served as Provost Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Alfaro is a Multilingual and Global Education Professor and Past Chair of the Dual Language and English Learner Education Department in the College of Education where she championed and led the largest bilingual teacher education program in the state of California. She also served as Director of the CSU International Teacher Education Program in Queretaro, Mexico. Dr. Alfaro has over 35 years of experience working and advocating for students’ linguistic rights. She served on the California Department of Education Panel for the English Language Development Standards. She is the Executive Director of the Center for Equity in Biliteracy and Binational Education Research. Additionally, she has launched the University Global Seal of Biliteracy at SDSU. She is recipient of the Innovative Leadership award, recipient of the San Diego County Office of Education Biliteracy Leadership Award, College of Education Excellence in Teaching Award, and the National Outstanding Latina in Higher Education Award. Dr. Alfaro has received over 15 million dollars of federal/state grants to prepare multilingual teachers across the nation. As a researcher she has examined and published on the role of educator critical ideological clarity. Her latest publication is the 2024 Handbook for Dual Language/Bilingual Education.