Juan Carrillo, an assistant professor at the School of Education, has been named a 2015 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow.
It’s the second year in a row that a School of Education faculty member has been awarded one of the most prestigious fellowships in the field of educational research. Kihyun “Kelly” Ryoo was named a NAE/Spencer Fellow last year.
“It is very unusual for an institution to boast two of these highly competitive post-docs in back-to-back years,” said Bill McDiarmid, dean of the School of Education. “This is recognition of both the value and strength of Dr. Carrillo’s scholarship and his potential to make an even greater impact in the future.”
Carrillo will receive a $70,000 stipend to support his research that focuses on the experiences of Latino males who are academically successful. His dissertation – “So Far From Home: Portraits of Mexican-Origin Scholarship Boys” – won a Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in 2008. He is in the process of turning the dissertation into a book.
Carrillo joined the School in 2011. A native of the barrios of South Los Angeles and the son of Mexican immigrants, Carrillo’s research explores the trajectories of Latino/a youth and their schooling, working to uncover factors that contribute to their academic success. For his NAE/Spencer research, he plans to focus on Latino “scholarship boys” from the rural South.
Carrillo’s background includes experiences as a high school teacher in low-income neighborhood schools, chair of a high school social studies department, teacher mentor and lead positions in curriculum design.
Carrillo was named the 2014 recipient of Carolina’s Chiron Award, an award bestowed by student groups at UNC to recognize excellence in teaching and devotion to students.
The NAE/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship program supports early-career scholars in education research. The program also works to develop the careers of its recipients through professional development activities.