MPSA LATINA/O CAUCUS AWARDS

Call For Nominations 2026 MPSA Latina/o Caucus Awards

The MPSA Latino Caucus is seeking nominations for the 2026-27 Early Career Award, Graduate Student Paper Award, and Graduate Student Travel Grants. The Best Graduate Student Paper Award will be presented for a paper presented at the 2026 MPSA Annual Meeting, and the Graduate Student Travel Grants will go toward 2027 MPSA Annual Meeting attendance. To nominate yourself or a colleague, please fill out the following forms: 

Graduate Student Travel Award: https://form.jotform.com/252687897432070
Early Career Award: https://form.jotform.com/252687951636067
Best Graduate Student Best Paper: https://form.jotform.com/252688533524060 

All nominations are due by Friday, February 12th 2027. 

Previous Award Winners

2026 Award Winners 

Early Career Award: Álvaro José Corral, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley
Early Career Award Honorable Mention: Michelangelo Landgrave, University of Colorado Boulder
Best Graduate Student Paper Award: Lindsey P. González, Texas A&M University
Graduate Student Travel Award(s): Francy D. Luna Diaz, University of Michigan & Claudette Medina, University of Colorado Boulder

2025 Award Winners 

​Distinguished Career Award: Francisco Pedraza, Arizona State University
Early Career Award: Roberto F. Carlos, University of Texas at Austin
Best Graduate Student Paper Award: Samantha Chapa, University of Houston
Best Graduate Student Paper (Honorable Mention): Stephanie Schmitt, University of Iowa
Graduate Student Travel Award(s): Karla Magaña, University of Michigan & Sonia Vargas, University of Maryland

2024 Award Winners

Early Career Award: Vanessa Cruz Nichols, Indiana University
Best Graduate Student Paper Award: Chris Flores, Stanford University

2023 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Alfonso Gonzales Toribio, University of California - Riverside
Early Career Award: Angela X. Ocampo, University of Texas - Austin
Best Graduate Student Paper Award: Kennia Coronado, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Best Graduate Student Paper (Honorable Mention): Derek Wakefield, Princeton University
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2022 Award Winners

Early Career Award: Sergio Garcia-Rios, Cornell University
Graduate Student Paper Award: Marcel Roman, University of Texas - Austin
 
2021 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: David Leal, University of Texas at Austin

2020 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Jessica Lavariega-Monforti, California Lutheran University
Early Career Award: Mara Ostfeld, University of Michigan

2019 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Melissa Michelson, Menlo College and Gary Segura, University of California-Los Angeles
Early Career Award: Health Silber Mohamed, Clark University
Best Graduate Paper(s):  Chinbo Chong, University of Michigan

2018 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Christine Sierra, University of New Mexico and Michael Jones-Correa, University of Pennsylvania
Early Career Award: Bernard Fraga, Indiana University
Best Graduate Paper(s):  Roberto Carlos, University of Chicago

2017 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Luis Fraga, University of Notre Dame
Early Career Award: Chris Zepeda Millan, UC Berkeley
Best Graduate Paper(s):  Apolonia Calderon, Texas A & M

2016 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: Val Martinez, University of North Texas
Early Career Award: Efren Perez, Vanderbilt University
Best Graduate Paper(s):  Angela Ocampo, UCLA and Bryan Wilcox-Archuleta, UCLA

2015 Award Winners

Distinguished Career Award: John A. Garcia, University of Michigan
Early Career Award: Betina Cutaia Wilkinson, Wake Forest University
Best Graduate Paper(s): Lisa Sanchez and Julia Marin Hellwege, University of New Mexico