Dr. Harriett Romo
Principal Investigator
UTSA Head Start Summer Institute

Dr. Romo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, San Diego, her MA Degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her BS Degree at the University of Texas at Austin. She held a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford at the Center for the Study of Families, Youth, and Children.

Dr. Romo began her career teaching in an inner-city school in Los Angeles, worked for the National Origin Desegregation Center in Southern California, and taught in the Department of Sociology at Southwest Texas State University and in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin prior to coming to UTSA.

She is a co-author of the book Latino High School Graduation (UT Press, 1996) and the sociology textbook Racial and Ethic Relations in America (1998, 2001, 2005). Her book, Reaching Out: Best Practices for Educating Mexican Origin Children and Youth (1999) was published by the ERIC clearinghouse on Rural and Small Schools.

Email: Harriett.Romo@utsa.edu

Sophia Ortiz, M.S.
Assistant Director
UTSA Head Start Summer Institute

Sophia Ortiz is the Assistant Director for the UTSA Head Start Summer Institute. She earned both her MS and BA degrees in Sociology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.  Sophia assists Dr. Romo with directing, planning and organizing the Summer Institute and oversees all Summer Institute activities during the summer sessions.

She also coordinates other projects in the C.A.P.R.I./Mexico Center such as the LIFE (Learning in Informal and Formal Environment) Bilingual Baby Project, several grants from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) working with Edgewood ISD and SAISD, and 8 other grant projects in progress. 

In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor at SAC, teaching SOCI 1301, Introduction to Sociology.  She holds an appointment by the City Council of San Antonio as a council member of the Head Start Policy Council and is Vice-President of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE).