Paulette Vincent-Ruz joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences in July 2022 as an assistant professor. She is a chemistry education researcher focused on understanding the systemic disadvantages that hinder the success of marginalized students.
“I've been trained in chemistry like any other chemist, but my Ph.D. was focused on education,” Vincent-Ruz said. “I try to understand how students process chemistry in their brains. How do we set up the classroom, classroom experiences, or out-of-classroom experiences to support the development of student science identity in a way that marginalized students have a chance to succeed? That is what I do.”
Vincent-Ruz was born and raised in Mexico City. She earned her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She received her Ph.D. in learning sciences and policy at the University of Pittsburgh.
Thanks to her unique combination of chemistry disciplinary knowledge and educational research, Vincent-Ruz was in the first group of chemistry education researchers in 2019 to be named a Future Leader in Chemistry by CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society.
“My job is to conduct research and bring new knowledge to my field, but also part of my job is to serve students at NMSU,” Vincent-Ruz said. “I teach them, I mentor them, I work with them. That is something I take very seriously. I love doing research, but the students come first. For me, it’s like, how do I provide them with experiences so they can go where they want to go in their careers.”