Veronica Areola, MPA

VP of Praxis

Council Term: 2023-2026

Inaugural director of Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives

Veronica I. Arreola serves as the inaugural director of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s (UIC) Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives. She has worked at UIC for 25 years, serving as the program director of the 2016 grant from the Department of Education that affirmed UIC’s designation as an HSI. This grant led to the creation of L@s GANAS (Latin@s Gaining Access to Networks for Advancement in Science), a program designed to support UIC’s efforts to increase the number of Latinx and low-income students attaining degrees in STEM fields.

Veronica has also served as the director of the UIC Women in Science Engineering (WISE) program, an academic advisor in Biological Sciences, and doing foundational work towards the creation of WISE while at the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender. Under her leadership, UIC WISE was recognized with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2011.

Arreola was also the inaugural executive director of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities which seeks to coordinate efforts across all research intensive HSI universities to increase the number of Latinx PhDs holders and faculty members.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences and a master’s in public administration, both with concentrations in Gender and Women’s Studies, both degrees from UIC.