Marialena Rivera (Ph.D. - University of California, Berkeley) is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at The University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication. She is passionate about improving the educational experience for students and is an advocate for public education, at all levels, as an integral part of a thriving and engaged community. Her research focuses on the politics of education policy and policy implementation, educational privatization, school finance equity, and school leadership for school improvement. Her work has been published in Educational Administration Quarterly, American Journal of Education, Journal of Education Policy, and the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education.
Prior to joining the faculty at Moody, Dr. Rivera spent two years as an Assistant Professor in Education Leadership at the College of Education at Texas State University and later worked with the Moody Office of Undergraduate Education in student support. She has taught graduate students at UT’s College of Education in the Educational Policy and Planning program, undergraduates in the new Bachelor of Public Affairs Program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and students from all undergraduate communication majors at the Moody College of Communication.
Dr. Rivera has won teaching awards, including the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award at UC Berkeley, and the Alpha Chi Favorite Professor Award at Texas State University, and the Dads’ Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship at UT Austin. She was also a finalist for the Moody College Teaching Excellence Award.
Marialena completed her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education in education policy, organizations, measurement & evaluation. She earned a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science for Teachers at Pace University while teaching middle school algebra and social studies in the Bronx, New York. She completed a BA in Government and a BBA in Business Honors and Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin. She enjoys painting, reading, tap dancing, and hiking and lives with her husband, three children, and two dogs in Austin, Texas.
Courses Taught:
- COM 301E – Introduction to Communication Foundations
- PA 320 – Communication for Public Affairs
- COM 214 – Special Topics, Student Success
- ELP 284H – Education Policy Implementation
