Rate My Professor Iliana Pena

Iliana Pena is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations in the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso. She earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at El Paso. With over fifteen years of experience spanning K-12 public education and higher education, Pena previously served as an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator in the Educational Leadership Program at Sul Ross State University before joining UTEP in 2021 as part of the new faculty cohort. Her career includes delivering numerous trainings for school leaders and board members, as well as presenting on key educational topics at national conferences. Pena also maintains an affiliation with Women's and Gender Studies at UTEP, where she teaches courses such as WS 4314 Women, Power, and Politics.

Pena's academic interests focus on critical areas within educational leadership, including issues of access and equity, education law and policy, principal leadership, and organizational change. Her research examines the effects of school closures on principal leadership identity, principals' equity mindsets in practice, and faculty roles in building remote communities of care during crises. Notable publications include "Forging Partnerships: Preparing School Leaders in Complex Environments" (2022), co-authored with Rodolfo Rincones, "A Call for Rethinking Schooling and Leadership in the Time of COVID-19" (2021), "Bridging The GAP between Higher Education and K–12: The Role of Program Coordinators in Educational Leadership Programs" (2023), "Faculty’s Role in Creating a (Remote) Sense of Community Among Faculty and Facilitating Contexts of Care for Students" (2024), "Looking at Equity Through the Rearview Mirror" (2025), "Balance vs. Integration: Finding an Alternative to the Work-Life Intersection" (2023), and "‘You’ve Got to Put the Student First’: Faculty Advisors as Educators and Emotional Laborers in Community College Baccalaureate Contexts" (2023). Her Ed.D. dissertation, "Impact of School Closures on Principal Leadership and Identity" (2020), analyzes how critical incidents shape leadership through phenomenological inquiry. Pena's scholarship has garnered 27 citations, underscoring her contributions to advancing leadership preparation in complex borderland contexts.