Associate Vice President of International Affairs
San Diego State University
Cristina Alfaro, Ph.D. is the Associate Vice-President of International Affairs at San Diego State University a proud Hispanic Serving Institution, situated on the border of Mexico and California, where she also served as Provost Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Alfaro is a Multilingual and Global Education Professor and Past Chair of the Dual Language Education Department in the College of Education where she championed and led the largest multilingual international teacher education program in the state of California. Dr. Alfaro has over 30 years of experience working in the field of social justice education leadership. Through her collaborative and strategic leadership SDSU received the NAFSA (2025) Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization; the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU, 2025) International Impact Award; and the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA, 2025) Presidential Leadership in Internationalization Award. Additionally, Dr. Alfaro serves on the AIEA Academy Faculty. She is the recipient of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Leadership Award, College of Education Excellence in Teaching Award, and the National Outstanding Latina in Higher Education Award. Dr. Alfaro currently serves on several national and international boards where she is an advocate for diverse students’ access to quality international education. As a researcher she has examined and published on the role of educator critical ideological consciousness and pedagogical practices that situate access and equity at the core of multilingual, binational, and global education.
Developing a Comprehensive Internationalization Strategy: A Network, Not a Hierarchy
Thursday, May 29, 2025
9:30 AM – 10:20 AM PST