Dr. Celeste Alexander, Director of the Texas ERC
Dr. Celeste Alexander is the Director of the Texas Education Research Center (ERC), Research Scientist, and Lecturer within the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy, in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. The ERC is a research and evaluation center that provides access to high quality, longitudinal data from the Texas PK-12, Texas higher education, Texas workforce, and other data for the state of Texas. The data now spans over 30 years and continues to grow annually. The ERCs mission is to maintain a longitudinal data system for the State of Texas and to provide social scientists and other researcher’s access to the ERC database to study and analyze significant questions to improve educational policy, educational outcomes, and labor outcomes.
Dr. Alexander has over 40 years of combined experience in child development, psychology, education, research, and evaluation. Her work and research focus on education policy and practice, educational outcomes, and labor outcomes. She is an expert in the growing field of longitudinal data systems, how research centers can be developed and maintained to allow secure access to confidential data. Dr. Alexander mentor’s graduate students utilizing the ERC data, with an emphasis on data management, understanding the many types of data formats, data changes over time, variable definitions, merging files, and statistical analyses. She serves on the ERC Advisory Board at the State level which monitors data use and FERPA compliance. Dr. Alexander also serves on the University of Texas High School Special Purpose District Advisory Board which provides guidance to promote academic excellence and ensure the school’s policies reflect the diverse needs of its community. Dr. Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology/biology from Austin College, a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from Texas State University, and Ph.D. in Education Administration from in The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Pedro Reyes, Executive Director of the Texas ERC
Dr. Pedro Reyes is the Department Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy, Ashbel Smith Professor of Education Leadership & Policy and holds appointments, by courtesy, at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Policy, and the Department of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Reyes served 20 years (2003-2017) as an academic leader in several roles:
Dr. Reyes was the Chief Executive Officer at the University of Texas San Antonio beginning February 2017 thru September 2017. He oversaw the education of 30,000 students and a budget of half of Billion dollars.
Dr. Reyes served as a special advisor to Chancellor William H. McRaven at the University of Texas System. He is leading several significant projects, including the Engineering Initiative, Accreditation for UTRGV, and development of the America’s Institute, among others.
Dr. Reyes was Executive Vice Chancellor for The Office of Academic Affairs at The University of Texas System, effective January 2012 and finished his term in May 2015. As the Executive Vice Chancellor, he worked with the UT System Board of Regents and Chancellor to develop academic policy and provide leadership to and oversight of the nine academic institutions.
Dr. Reyes was Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Assessment at The University of Texas System, Office of Academic Affairs, and effective January 15, 2003 and finished his term in January 15, 2012. As Associate Vice Chancellor, Dr. Reyes worked primarily in education policy. Dr. Reyes also directed the Student Learning Assessment Project, for the academic institutions, and Academic Initiatives, for Academic Affairs, which included managing a $40 million-dollar fund to improve research capacity among academic institutions. Dr. Reyes was involved with the execution of the University of Texas System’s annual tuition and fee plan and annual budget presentations. He served on UT System Task Forces on issues including capital planning and admissions. Dr. Reyes also served on boards of external education organizations including P-16 Council and the Texas Education Reform Foundation.
Pedro Reyes was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Education Policy and Administration at The University of Texas at Austin, where he also holds a courtesy appointment in the Lyndon Baines Johnson school of Public Policy.
He received his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been a member of the faculty at Texas since January, 1991. He has a combined 30 years of teaching experience in public schools and higher education and was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education for his graduate teaching.
Dr. Reyes was the 30th president of the University Council for Educational Administration, which is a national consortium of 70 major research universities in the United States and Canada advancing the knowledge base in educational administration. He was a Fellow of the prestigious National Academy of Education.
