Rochelle Gutiérrez, a professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been elected to the National Academy of Education.

Founded in 1965, NAE is an honorific society of U.S. members and international associates who are elected based on outstanding education-related scholarship.

A professor of mathematics education, Gutiérrez has been a U. of I. faculty member since 1996. She holds secondary faculty appointments in Latina/Latino Studies and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

“We are delighted to see Gutiérrez and her innovative, meaningful scholarship being recognized at the highest level with her election to the National Academic of Education,” said Chrystalla Mouza, the dean of the College of Education and the Gutgsell Professor of Curriculum and Instruction. “Her body of work in mathematics education is truly trailblazing, and her commitment to interrogating the status quo — for the good of society — is both inspiring and essential.”

Gutiérrez’s work challenges deficit views of students who are Latinx, Black and Indigenous and suggests that mathematics teachers need much more than just content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge or knowledge of diverse students to be successful.

Gutiérrez’s scholarship focuses on the importance of considering identity, power, relationships and environmental factors as they relate to mathematics education, paying particular attention to how race, class and language affect teaching and learning.

In 2024, she was selected a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, an organization that strives to advance educational research and practice. Gutiérrez is a former Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow and National Academy of Education/Spencer Post-Doctoral Fellow and Fulbright Scholar.

Among other accomplishments, Gutiérrez has served on the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ national writing team for the standards for preparing teachers of mathematics and has advised the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

One of just 342 academy members worldwide, Gutiérrez joins U. of I. education professors emeriti Richard C. Anderson and James D. Anderson in the organization.

Editor's note: This story originally appeared on the News Bureau website. Photo by David J. Pollak.