Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz
A California native whose parents immigrated from Mexico and whose father worked in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz has deep roots in the UC System and the Central Valley region. He earned his B.A. in psychology from UC Santa Barbara. Prior to earning his M.A. in Mexican American studies from California State University, Los Angeles he was a secondary school teacher and instructor in the California Community College system. He earned his Ph.D. in education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied curriculum & instruction in the Division of Urban Schooling.
Dr. Muñoz joined UC Merced as the school’s 4th Chancellor from the University of Houston Downtown (UHD), where he served as president and within his first year launched the university’s largest capital campaign and led the institution’s recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey. Prior to UHD, Dr. Muñoz served as senior vice president and vice provost at Texas Tech University.
He is the author of book chapters, academic articles, essays, refereed and invited conference presentations and professor in the Department of Sociology. He is a graduate of the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership offered jointly by Arizona State and Georgetown Universities, ACE’s Spectrum Executive Leadership Program, Harvard University’s Institute for Management and Leadership, UC Berkeley’s Executive Leadership Academy, and the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Policy’s Governor’s Executive Development Program.
Dr. Muñoz has served on the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence, and is currently on the board of directors of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, Excelencia in Education, and the American Council on Education. In 2020, he was appointed by Governor Newsom to the board of the California Strategic Growth Council. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Aspen Institute American Talent Initiative Steering Committee, the Mercy Medical Center Community Board and the Campaign For College Opportunity Board of Directors. In 2023, he was appointed to the Carnegie Postsecondary Commission.