In early January 2023 Prof. Maria de Moya Taveras left DePaul for a new adventure at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Maria was serving as the Associate Director for Regional Initiative - Latin America (ADRI-LatAm) and we are grateful to her for everything she accomplished while working with Global Engagement. It is our pleasure to announce that Dr. Martha Martinez-Firestone, associate professor of Sociology and former director of the Honors program has agreed to serve as the new ADRI-LatAm. Martha teaches graduate and undergraduate courses that focus on a sociological view of economic issues, including topics like global labor markets, organizational dynamics, social capital, entrepreneurship, and modern capitalism, in addition to quantitative research methods. She received her BA in Communication Sciences from Monterrey Institute of Technology, in Monterrey, Mexico and earned her MA and PhD in Economic Sociology at Duke University. Her research includes the topics of the role of social networking on entrepreneurial success, evolutionary organizational theory and industry transformation, market dynamics on urban housing and global trade. Her current project is a textbook entitled The Employable Sociologist: A guide for undergraduates, where she aims to help students use sociological thinking to achieve their professional goals. Her work has been published in the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, Entrepreneurship Research Journal, Case Research Journal, the Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Multilevel Linkages, the Handbook of Family Businesses, and the Handbook of Organisational Entrepreneurship, as well as edited volumes and encyclopedias.
Global Engagement is excited to have Martha on board with us. We are all looking forward to working closely with her in continuing our long standing and deep engagement with Latin American partners.