Theater professor named 2022 Victoria Foundation award recipient

Arizona State University Professor Micha Espinosa has been named the 2022 recipient of the Professor Alberto Ríos Outstanding Literary/Arts Award by the Victoria Foundation. A longstanding member of the Screen Actors Guild, Espinosa is known as a national and international presence and a leading voice for social justice in the classroom. 

Espinosa is a full professor in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre with affiliate appointments in The Sidney Poitier New American Film School and the School of Transborder Studies. She said she is honored to be acknowledged for her work by the Victoria Foundation.

“The work of the Victoria Foundation inspires me,” said Espinosa. “It is a great honor to receive recognition from an organization that shares my values of strengthening educational opportunities for the Latinx communities of Arizona.”

Espinosa has been working on a book co-edited with Cynthia Santos DeCure that addresses the systemic invisibility of Latino actors in the industry and develops culturally conscious pathways to career success. She is also working on a project with ASU Barrett College Fellows Marcus Cruz, Chelsea Hernandez Martinez and Jaime Orozco Velasquez to improve opportunities and perceptions of careers in the performing arts.

“My creative and academic writings have focused on the urgent need to address the inequities that Latinx students face in the field,” said Espinosa. “I hope that receiving this award sheds light on these two projects dear to my heart.”

Espinosa was honored at the Higher Education Awards Reception on Sept. 14 at the Helios Education Foundation in Phoenix.