Stanford education professor Amado Padilla appointed to endowed chair

Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professor Amado Padilla has been appointed to an endowed chair, the highest honor the university can bestow upon faculty. 

Padilla, whose research focuses on resilience in education, was named the Vida Jacks Professor of Education.

GSE Dean Dan Schwartz announced Padilla’s appointment to GSE faculty in June.

“Throughout his career, Dr. Padilla has maintained a steadfast commitment to equity, student development, and educational access, with a particular focus on historically underserved communities,” Schwartz wrote in his nomination for Padilla’s professorship. 

“Dr. Padilla’s contributions have shaped the institutions he’s served and inspired a generation of educators and learners,” Schwartz continued. “His lifelong dedication to academic excellence, equity, and transformative education makes him a compelling candidate for professorial recognition and a valuable contributor to the academic community.”

Padilla joined Stanford in 1988, and he was also the associate dean for faculty affairs at the GSE for four years. 

His research centers on three areas: students who excel academically despite being raised in challenging backgrounds; acculturation, its negative impacts, and bicultural strategies; and learning a second language and bilingual proficiency. He also co-authored a book entitled Positive Psychology and Second Language Education, with Xinjie Chen, about theories and practices related to teaching and learning second/foreign languages for all ages.

He has held key leadership roles in public school systems and university settings, where he has designed and managed comprehensive student support programs. He is also the founding editor of the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences and principal investigator of the California World Language Project, a program that assists California teachers in world language instruction.

“I have received other awards and honors during my academic career, but receiving the Vida Jacks Chair in Education is perhaps the most significant since it comes from the GSE, which has long been my academic home,” Padilla said. “I have been in the GSE long enough to have known prior recipients of the professorship, scholars who I’ve respected, and it’s an honor to follow in their footsteps."