About Sonia
Sonia Nieto
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A member of the National Academy of Education, Sonia Nieto is Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy, and Culture, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her teaching has spanned early elementary through doctoral education and her research has focused on multicultural education, teacher education, literacy, and the education of students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with a special emphasis on Latin@ students. The author of dozens of journal articles and book chapters she has also written or edited 13 books, including a memoir, Brooklyn Dreams: My Life in Public Education (Harvard Education Press, 2015), and a co-authored book with her daughter Alicia López, an award-winning middle school ESL teacher, Teaching, a Life’s Work: A Mother-Daughter Dialogue (Teachers College Press, 2019). She is the founding editor of the Language, Culture, and Teaching series (Routledge Publishers) and inaugural editor of the Visions of Practice series (Teachers College Press). The first edition of her classic text, Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education (1992), was selected for the Museum of Education Readers’ Guide as “one of the 100 books that helped define the field of education in the 20th century.” Dr. Nieto has received dozens of awards for her scholarly work, teaching, activism, and advocacy, including 9 honorary doctorates and, most recently, the 2021 Governor’s Award in the Humanities from Mass Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the 2022 Lifelong Educator of the Year Award from NABE, the National Association for Bilingual Education.
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EDUCATION
Dissertation: Curriculum Decision-Making, the Puerto Rican Family and the Bilingual Child
- 1965 St. John’s University, New York City, BS, Elementary Education, Minor in Spanish
- 1966 New York University MA, Spanish & Hispanic Literature, Graduate Year in Spain, University of Madrid
- 1979 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Ed.D.
- Major Areas of Concentration:
Dissertation: Curriculum Decision-Making, the Puerto Rican Family and the Bilingual Child
AWARDS / RECOGNITION
Honorary Doctorates
Honor Societies and Distinguished Academy Memberships
Research and Academic Honors
Book Awards
◊ Honorable Mention, 2005 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards, for Why We Teach. New York: Teachers College Press.
Visiting Professorships and Residencies
Teaching, Service, And Community Awards, Citations, and Recognitions
Scholarships and Doctoral Fellowships
Honorary Doctorates
- Honoris Causa, Doctor of Humane Letters, Mount Holyoke College, S. Hadley, MA, May 2018
- Honoris Causa, Ph.D. DU, Doctor of the University, Ottawa University, June 2017
- Honoris Causa in Education, Rhode Island College, Providence, May 2017
- Honoris Causa in Humane Letters, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, May 2015
- Honoris Causa in Humane Letters, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, May 2015
- Honoris Causa in Humane Letters, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY, May 2009
- Honoris Causa in Humane Letters, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, June 2007
- Honoris Causa in Intercultural Relations, Bridgewater State University, MA, May 2004
Honor Societies and Distinguished Academy Memberships
- Elected to the National Academy of Education, March 2015 http://www.naeducation.org/
- Inducted as a Laureate of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), Educational Honor Society, November 2011
- Elected as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2011
Research and Academic Honors
- Lifelong Educator of the Year Award, Annual conference of the National Association for Bilingual Education, New York City, February 2022
- Honoree of the Governor’s Award for the Humanities from Mass Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment in the Humanities, October 2021
- Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, Literacy Research Association annual conference, Tampa, FL, December 2019
- The Sonia Nieto Diverse Educator Scholarship, Mount Holyoke College. Established in 2017, this is a scholarship open to students who “demonstrate a dedication to education, student learning, and aspire to affect change in their school, district, or beyond”
- NCTE James R. Squire Award for a scholar “who has had a transforming influence and made a lasting intellectual contribution to the profession.” National Council of Teachers of English annual convention, St. Louis, MO, November 2017
- Included in list of “The 200 Most Influential Voices in Education, RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings,” Education Week, 2012 (#105), 2015 (#42), 2016 (#33)
- Invited honoree, Inside the Academy, an online archive that recognizes the most influential scholars in the academy through their personal and professional histories, 2015 http://insidetheacademy.asu.edu/sonia-nieto
- Medal for Distinguished Service (Highest honor granted by Teachers College), Columbia University, New York City, 2014
- Recipient of the 2011 Changing the World Award, Chapman University, Orange, California
- Paulo Freire Democratic Project Social Justice Award, Chapman University, 2009
- Social Justice in Education Award
- Division K Legacy Award◊
- Awarded at the 2006 AERA conference, San Francisco, CA, April 2006:
- Distinguished Career Award from the Committee of Scholars of Color
- Division G Senior Scholar Award for Research on the Social Context of Education
- Enrique T. Trueba Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journal of Latinos and Education
- Outstanding Educator in the Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English, 2005
- Professional Achievement Award in Education, Boricua College Commencement, New York City, 2004
- Chancellor’s Medal, University of Massachusetts, 2000
Book Awards
- First edition of Affirming Diversity (1992) selected in 2015 as “one of the books that helped define the field of education in the 20th century.” Museum of Education Books of the 20th Century web-exhibition, University of South Carolina, Columbia. http://museumofeducation.info/Guide-Nieto.html
- Society of Professors of Education, 2015 Book Award for Why We Teach Now. New York:
- Critics’ Choice Selection, 1999, American Educational Studies Association for The Light in
◊ Honorable Mention, 2005 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards, for Why We Teach. New York: Teachers College Press.
Visiting Professorships and Residencies
- Visiting Research Scholar, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, and Elise C. Tepper
- Wits Claude-Leon Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg,
- Libra Diversity Visiting Scholar, University of Maine, Orono, January and April 2010
- Visiting Scholar, Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños (Center for Puerto Rican Studies), Hunter
- Visiting Scholar, University of South Carolina, October 2008
- Visiting Scholar, University of Puerto Rico, October 2008
- Annenberg Institute Senior Fellowship in Urban Education, 1998-2000
- Bellagio Study and Conference Center Residency Award, Rockefeller Foundation, Italy, MayJune 2000
- Visiting Professor, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, January-February 1997
Teaching, Service, And Community Awards, Citations, and Recognitions
- Official Citation from the Massachusetts State Senate for the Governor’s Award in the Humanities, October 2021
- Latinx Trailblazer Award, Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, Massachusetts Legislature, October 2020
- Outstanding Service to the Hispanic Community (with husband Angel Nieto), Holyoke Family Festival, 2016
- Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, presented at the
- Extraordinary Latina Educator Citation, Governor Deval Patrick, Boston, MA, 2011
- Distinguished Alumna, University of Massachusetts Centennial Celebration, 2008
- Presidential Orgullo Puertorriqueño [Puerto Rican Pride] Award, National Congress of Puerto Rican Women, Orange, CA, 2007
- Mary Hudson Onley Award at the Annual Heritage Celebration, Hall of Black Achievement,
- Hall of Fame, 2003 Spanish-Language Community Advocate, Críticas Journal
- Girlapalooza Award for “Commitment to Education and The Relentless Pursuit of Girl Power,”
- Girls Incorporated of Holyoke Honoree, Annual Dinner and Celebration, 2002
- Outstanding Teacher Award, School of Education, University of Massachusetts, 2001-2002
- Martin Luther King Citizen’s Award, Annual MLK Breakfast, Amherst, MA, 2001
- Personal Technology Trainer Award, School of Education, UMass, 2001-2002
- Grand Marshall, Holyoke Puerto Rican Day Parade of Western Massachusetts, July 1998
- New England Educator of the Year Award, Region One, National Association for Multicultural
- Citation for Meritorious Service from the City of Paterson, New Jersey, 1998
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Award, Crocker Farm School, Amherst, MA, 1998
- Multicultural Educator of the Year Award, NAME, 1997
- Teacher of the Year Award, Hispanic Educators of Massachusetts, 1996
- Named to Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels by Governor of Kentucky, 1996
- Service to the Latino Community, Latino Scholarship Fund, Holyoke, 1995
- Drylongso Award for Anti-Racist Activists, Community Change, Boston, MA, 1995
- Point of Excellence Award, Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, 1994
- Outstanding Accomplishment in Higher Education Award, Hispanic Caucus of the American Association of Higher Education, 1991
- Pioneering Work in Bilingual Education Award, Graduate Student Association for Bilingual
- Human and Civil Rights Award, Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), l988
- Award from the Bilingual Collegiate Program, University of Massachusetts, l984
Scholarships and Doctoral Fellowships
- Ford Foundation Fellowship for doctoral studies, l975-l979
- Title VII Fellowship for doctoral studies, United States Office of Education, l975-l978
- High school graduation scholarship from the Flatbush Merchants’ Association, 1961
