By Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernández has been appointed executive director of the Mills Institute. Her tenure started on December 1, 2022.
She grew up in the Salinas Valley and attended UC Santa Cruz for her undergraduate degree, later earning a master’s degree and doctorate in English at Cornell University. After stints as associate professor of gender studies at the University of Arizona and the inaugural chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at the University of Texas, Guidotti-Hernández most recently taught English, history, Hispanic studies, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Emory University. Her 2011 book Unspeakable Violence: Remapping U.S. and Mexican National Imaginaries received a prize from the Modern Language Association, and her writing has appeared in Ms. Magazine.
Guidotti-Hernández returns to Northern California as a well-known feminist thought leader, and she told News@Northeastern that the role is a perfect fit. “My vision is to have a tremendous impact both locally and globally,” she said. “We will find our place in the community. It has always been a dream to work in a setting like this one, where the mission is ripe for opportunity. I feel really lucky—really lucky.” She was selected after a nationwide search conducted by a committee of faculty representatives from both Mills and Northeastern.
With Guidotti-Hernández in place and $30 million in seed money, planning for specific offerings at the Mills Institute will now begin in earnest. The organization’s founding purpose is to propagate the longtime Mills legacy of serving women, gender nonbinary individuals, and other marginalized and underserved communities that have historically faced barriers to higher education. More detailed programs for the Institute will now begin to come into focus over the next few months.
