Curriculum Vitae
Event Schedule (PDF)
Dr. Adolfo Santos is an Assistant Provost and Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He is the highest-ranking academic officer at the Higher Education Center at McAllen. He began in this new leadership position in July of 2018, and has since doubled the number of program offerings at the Center. Under his leadership, all students at the Higher Education Center at McAllen have benefit from first-year experience learning communities. Dr. Santos is also leading efforts to provide students high impact practices every year. Dr. Santos has developed academic support services and led efforts to increase the number of students who benefit from tutoring, mentoring and academic advising support. Dr. Santos conducts frequent analysis of retention data and identifies strategies to improve retention.
Prior to arriving in McAllen, Dr. Santos was the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), a position he held for five years. He led over 200 faculty in over thirteen different disciplines. He is an American Council on Education Fellow from the class of 2011-2012. He was also a 2012 American Association of State Colleges and Universities Millennium Leadership Initiative Protégé. Prior to 2013, Dr. Santos was at the University of Houston -Downtown (UHD) where he served as Special Assistant to the President and Chief Liaison Officer. He also served as Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at UHD from 2006 to 2011.
Dr. Santos is the co-author of Texas Politics Today, and American Government and Politics Today: Texas Edition. In 2006, he authored Do Members of Congress Reward Their Future Employers? Evaluating the Revolving Door Syndrome. Dr. Santos has also written on minority representation in corporate and political institutions, education policy, and local and state elections. Dr. Santos has served on the boards of the McAllen Economic Development Corporation, the International Museum of Arts and Science, Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Children at Risk, the Education Foundation of Harris County, and the Houston Hispanic Forum. Dr. Santos has also been appointed to several committees by City of Houston Mayor Anise Parker.
Dr. Adolfo Santos is married to Betin Bilir-Santos and they have a son – Andrew Flock.