San Diego City College

Justin Akers Chacon

Professor & Chair,

Chicana and Chicano Studies Department

jakers@sdccd.edu

E. Cristina Carrillo, M.A. (she, her, ella)

Counselor/Assistant Professor 

Guided Pathways Co-Coordinator

ecarrillo@sdccd.edu

Isabel Gutierrez, M.A. 

Counselor/Associate Professor

EOPS (Extended Opportunity Program and Services)

igutierrez001@sdccd.edu

I am a Counselor/Professor in the EOPS (Extended Opportunity Program and Services) department. I am most passionate about working with first generation college students to help them reach their educational goals by providing them with the tools and resources they need to navigate their way through college. I am also a credentialed teacher and prior to becoming counseling faculty at the community college, I taught middle school for several years. I identify as a  proud Spanish speaking Mexican-American. I love to travel to immerse myself into new cultures and learn new languages. For example, I had the opportuntiy to live, teach and learn Turkish in Istanbul, Turkey for two years.  

Lorenza Levy, Ph.D. (she, her, ella)

Associate Professor, Physics & Astronomy

SACNAS Chapter

llevy@sdccd.edu

Welcome to San Diego City College! I am an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy and have been teaching here since 2007. I was born in Mexico City and was raised bicultural and biliterate between Mexico City and San Diego. This bicultural upbringing planted the seeds of what would blossom into my drive for social justice and equity in the STEM professions. I obtained obtained a BS in Physics and Astronomy at Northern Arizona University, after having attended Grossmont/Cuyamaca Community College. During my time there, I was a NASA undergraduate student observer at Lowell Observatory where I studied comet evolution and discovered two asteroids: lorenzalevy (10938) and urquiza (11711). I continued my academic journey and obtained a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, though my research interests shifted into galactic cluster evolution.  While I was a graduate student, I started a family, and learned how to juggle the demands of school and motherhood. After my Ph.D., I moved back to San Diego and began teaching at San Diego City College.  I have dedicated my years at San Diego City College to growing our SACNAS Chapter, and creating equitable paths for all our students, while modeling balance between work and family duties. 

Manuel Paul Lopez 

Associate Professor, English

Norell Martinez, Ph.D. (she, her, ella)

Assistant Professor, English

HUBU Program

I am a bilingual Chicana from the San Diego/Tijuana border region. I teach in the department of English and Chicano/a Studies and received my doctorate in Literature/Cultural Studies from UC San Diego. I do research on the witch-hunts in the Americas and the reclaiming of the witch/bruja today by Chicana, Indigenous and Black feminists as a form of resistance. I was recently published in the books, Latinas and the Politics of Urban Space and Voices of the Ancestors, and I am currently on the editorial board of Puntorojo Magazine. 

Hola! My name is Sylvia Ramirez, I use she, her and ella pronouns. I am currently serving as the Acting Program Activity Manager for Title V at City College. I am a first generation college student who was born and raised in the Midwest, attended Purdue University where I earned a B.A in Communication and attended DePaul University where I earned my M.A in New Media Studies. I am passionate about creating intentional programming to support first generation college students, simplifying financial aid for students, and teaching students how to share their education journey to secure scholarship funding. 

I love to travel and create colorful quilts which represent time periods of my life or represent special moments in my family and friends lives. 

Adan Sanchez, Ed.D.

(el, he, him)

asanchez003@sdccd.edu

Les doy la bienvenida a City College and I welcome you to the many programs and resources created to intentionally support you and your lived experience! I serve as the Activity Director for Title V, which means San Diego City College has the designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution to improve the retention and success of Latino/a/x and Chicana/o/x students and economically disadvantaged students by elevating key student success efforts aimed to validate and support the students’ multiple identities, roles, and experiences through equity-minded and culturally responsive course redesign, professional development, and student services initiatives.

I was born in Tijuana, right across the border, and my family moved to San Diego when I was 10 years old when I began my journey to learn the English language and navigate the educational system as a first-generation college student. With my family’s support, I received a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from the joint program at UC San Diego and CSU San Marcos. I also completed Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of San Diego. I have worked in both academic affairs and student services where I use my experience to ensure we create institutional support that emphasize the intersection of our identities to validate our multiple identities and roles. For example, I have the honor to contribute to the development of the SUBIR Intercultural Centers which include the Dreamer Resource Center, Pride Hub, Womxn’s Hub, and three others that will focus on supporting First-Generation college students, students of color in STEM, and formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students.

Maria-Jose Zeledon-Perez, Ed. D. (she, her, ella)

Assistant Professor, Communication Studies

World Cultures Program Co-coordinator

Puente Project

mzeledon@sdccd.edu