Eduardo Contreras Jr., Ed.D., Appointed Vice Provost for Global Engagement

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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WACO, Texas (March 14, 2023) – Following a nationwide search, Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced today that Eduardo Contreras Jr., Ed.D., associate provost for international education, diversity and inclusion at the University of Portland (UP), has been selected as Baylor University’s vice provost for global engagement, effective July 1, 2023.

Contreras is an educator with over 20 years of experience as a successful teacher, facilitator, curriculum developer, advisor and collaborative administrator. Throughout his career, he has been committed to upholding internationalization and inclusive excellence in U.S. public and private higher education.

As vice provost at Baylor, Contreras will serve on Provost Brickhouse’s leadership team and as the University’s senior international officer, overseeing the Center for Global Engagement, including Study Abroad, the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, Global Baylor, the Global Scholars Program and the Global Gateway Program.

“Dr. Contreras’s depth of senior-level leadership experience, his national visibility as a leader in global education, his record of accomplishment and his commitment to Baylor’s Christian mission make him a terrific fit for the position of vice provost for global engagement,” Provost Brickhouse said. “I look forward to working with Eddie on our Latin America initiative, one of our signature focuses within the Illuminate strategic plan, as well as on a broader plan for elevating Baylor’s impact on the world.”

“Baylor’s mission of educating women and men for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment with a caring community resonates deeply with me on a personal and professional level,” Contreras said. “I’m humbled by Provost Brickhouse’s invitation to serve as Baylor’s next senior international officer, and I’m excited to work with the extraordinary team of talented professionals in the Center for Global Engagement, as well as the students, staff and faculty on campus and in the world. I look forward to advancing campus-wide internationalization in ways that are equity minded and in line with our mission. As hot as the Lone Star sun will be, and as much as we’ll miss friends and colleagues in Portland, my wife, Ingrid, and I are delighted to return to Texas this summer.”

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Contreras earned his B.A. in history and master’s degree in Asian cultures and languages from the university, followed by his Ed.M. in higher education and Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is fluent in Spanish and brings additional languages, including Hindi/Urdu (speaking/reading/writing) and Sanskrit (reading/writing ability).

Contreras comes to Baylor from UP, a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, where he has served since 2015, initially as director of the Office of Studies Abroad before becoming assistant provost in 2018. Since 2021, he has served as UP’s first associate provost for international education, diversity and inclusion, where he leads Study Abroad, International Student Services, the Collaborative on International Studies and Global Outreach, diversity and inclusion and the Diversity Center. His broad UP duties include serving on the President’s Leadership Cabinet, Provost’s Council and co-chairing the internationalization and diversity section of UP’s Vision 2020 strategic plan and the subcommittee on diversity, inclusion and justice for UP’s current strategic plan, Hope, Renewal, Transformation (2022-2027).

After graduating from Texas, he joined UT’s South Asia Institute as a social science humanities research associate from 2001-04, served as a study abroad advisor for Asia and the Middle East in the Center for Global Educational Opportunities from 2004-06, and became program coordinator of the Study Abroad Office from 2006-08. He also was part of a team that spearheaded the first student peer-mentor program to promote inclusion in Study Abroad.

While finishing his doctoral degree at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Contreras was invited by the dean to serve on a Global Education Task Force to identify ways to internationalize the Graduate School. He served on multiple teaching teams, including leading a course on “Internationalizing Higher Education: Possibilities, Perils, and Promises.” He also was a graduate assistant at MIT’s Office of Minority Education, where he fostered underrepresented student leadership skills with effective mentor relationships; a graduate assistant and study abroad program consultant in the Harvard Europe Program, pre-coordinating Harvard College’s first faculty-led study abroad program; and a summer institute facilitator for the Management Development Program (MDP) in the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education. He currently is faculty co-chair of Harvard’s MDP.

Contreras has presented his research extensively at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the American Educational Research Association, the American Historical Association and the Global Inclusion Conference. He has been a committee member for the annual Diversity Abroad Conference since its inception in 2013 and a conference committee chair since 2016. Professionally, he serves on the Forum on Education Abroad Board, North American Advisory Board for Education New Zealand and on the IES Abroad Academic Council and Curriculum Committee.

Contreras’ writing appears in peer-reviewed journals, professional blogs and international education publications such as University World News and IIE Networker. He has a chapter in the 2018 book, “Promoting Inclusion in Education Abroad: A Handbook of Research and Practice,” as well chapters in books published in 2022, “Historically Underrepresented Faculty and Students in Education Abroad: Wandering Where We Belong” and “In a House Where All Belong: Redesigning Education Abroad for Inclusive Excellence.” He is an editorial board member for Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal for Study Abroad.

Provost Brickhouse thanked the 16-member vice provost search committee – with members representative of campus – for their valuable time and service during the successful nationwide search process: Dean Sandeep Mazumder (chair), Carlos F. Cardoza‐Orlandi, Colleen Zori, Jay R. Dittmann, Eva I. Doyle, Bryan W. Brooks, Dawn Carlson, Dan Hanchey, Paul Martens, Julie DeGraffenried, Clay Butler, Leah Witcher Jackson Teague, Charles A. Weaver III, Rebecca Kennedy, Mark Bryant and Paul E. Larson.

The Provost also expressed her appreciation for Vice Provost of Global Engagement Jeffrey Hamilton, Ph.D., professor of history and The Jo Murphy Chair in International Education who has been credited with elevating the Center for Global Engagement and the University’s international work, particularly during the pandemic with its various challenges. Hamilton also helped lead Baylor’s participation in the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Laboratory to position the University to have an even greater impact globally. Hamilton will return to teaching in the Department of History.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.