Leobardo Estrada, an associate professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, has been elected 2014-15 vice chair/chair-elect of the UCLA Academic Senate. Estrada will assist incoming chair Joel Aberbach, professor of political science and public policy and director of the Center for American Politics and Public Policy.    

Estrada has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 1977. His areas of expertise include ethnic and racial demographic trends, particularly in the Latino population of the southwestern United States, inner city redevelopment, and social policy analysis and research methods. He has provided his knowledge on methodologies related to ethnic and racial groups to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. He serves on advisory boards to numerous non-profit organizations, among them the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and L.A.'s Christopher Commission, whose recommendations in the wake of the 1991 Rodney King beating have become the basis of the ongoing reform of the L.A. Police Department.

Estrada's involvement with the Academic Senate began with service as a member of the Graduate Council. He has also served on the Senate’s Privilege and Tenure Committee, the Committee on Planning and Budget, and the Undergraduate Council, which he currently chairs.

In a statement as a candidate for Academic Senate vice-chair, he wrote, “UCLA is known as a campus with a strong and vibrant shared governance system, and my overall goal will be to sustain and enhance this during my tenure."

He noted that “UCLA faculty are facing challenges due to decreasing resources and increasing demands as retiring faculty and recruited faculty are not replaced. All the while, students make demands for more classes taught by ladder faculty. UCLA faculty members have responded up to this point but there are limits as to how far you can stretch resources.

“Future demands on faculty members must be negotiated judiciously with the administration,” Estrada wrote. “Ultimately, the Academic Senate serves as the voice of the faculty, but not only to serve the faculty's interests but to ensure that UCLA students receive the best instruction.”

Find more information about the UCLA Academic Senate here.