Raquel Muñiz receives William T. Grant Foundation Scholar Award

Raquel Muñiz, an assistant professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, has received a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar Award, an annual program that supports career development for promising, early-career researchers.  She was one of 50 applicants for the grant.

Each year, four to six scholars are selected by the foundation for funding over a five-year period to expand their expertise. Launched in 1982, the award includes a mentoring component designed to assist the scholars in taking measured risks in their trajectories as researchers.    

Muñiz joined the Lynch School’s Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education in 2018; she also has a courtesy appointment at the Boston College Law School.  Her research is grounded in the examination of oppressive power structures and the strategies to disrupt them in education.  Through this racial equity-centered work, she seeks to inform educational equity discourse and scholarship.

“I’m excited to join the 2029 William T. Grant Scholars Program class, and the supportive community of scholars and mentors who will enable my professional growth,” said Muñiz, who holds law and education doctoral degrees from Pennsylvania State University. “Through the research project, I will have an opportunity to study how social networks shape education attorneys’ use of research in service of marginalized youth, and to learn from dedicated education advocates. The goal is to inform how we can improve the use of research in law to advance equity.”

“We are thrilled that our colleague Raquel Muñiz has won a W.T. Grant Scholar Award,” said Stanton E. F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School.  “The awards are extremely competitive, and it’s very impressive that she succeeded in the first year she applied. This support will allow her to expand her important work in law and education, and we look forward to the results in the years to come.”

The William T. Grant Foundation, founded in 1936, is an American non-profit philanthropic organization that funds research in the social sciences, with a particular focus on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in public policy and practice settings.