The University of California, Merced, today announced the appointment of Dania Matos as Associate Chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Matos is the first appointment to the new position, which will serve on Chancellor Dorothy Leland’s senior leadership team and is charged with advising the team on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and overseeing campus diversity initiatives. Her appointment, which begins in July, follows a nationwide search that included input from throughout the campus community.
“Dania Matos has an extensive background as a zealous and driven advocate, a champion for equity, and is well positioned to lead us as we continue to serve our diverse campus community,” Chancellor Leland said.
Matos joins UC Merced from William & Mary, where she served as the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer. As the university’s Associate Chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, she will work with campus stakeholders to create a campus vision and strategic plan focused on commitments to faculty, staff, and student diversity, the inclusion of diverse peoples and perspectives in all aspects of campus life, and fair and equitable treatment for all members of the campus community.
Dania Matos has an extensive background as a zealous and driven advocate, a champion for equity, and is well positioned to lead us as we continue to serve our diverse campus community.
Matos will guide the implementation of the plan and design appropriate structures of accountability while providing leadership for campus diversity hiring and retention through the identification and implementation of best practices in this area. She will work closely with various campus groups that have a focus on campus climate and diversity issues, and she will be responsible for securing external funding for campus diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
"It is an honor and privilege to join the UC Merced family and work alongside Chancellor Leland to continue to champion, lead, partner and elevate not only where we are, but where we should be as a leading institution of equity minded best practitioners,” Matos said. “I look forward to engendering access, inclusion and excellence at every level of what we do and who we are."
At William & Mary, Matos led the creation and implementation of various equity-related initiatives for faculty and staff, accountability measures for diversity action plans across campus, and a campus wide diversity strategic plan. She also was an adjunct professor in the government department, instructing a course on immigration and race, and is an international multi-sector expert.
Matos earned her bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University, Columbus School of Law.
In 2018, she was recognized as one of the “Top 25 Women in Higher Education and Beyond” by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Matos previously was appointed by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to oversee the Virginia Latino Advisory Board. She currently serves as special advisor to the president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and American Council on Education’s Virginia Network Senior Leadership Seminar.
