Carlos Alberto Torres

Dr. Torres has authored more than 62 books, and more than 250 research articles, chapters in books and entries in encyclopedias in several languages—he speaks fluently in Spanish and Portuguese.

Most recently has been appointed for five years as Adjunct Professor at the Danish School of Education, Denmark (2009–2014).

From 1995 until 2005 he has served as Director of the UCLA Latin American Center, an Organized Research Unit of the University of California. In this capacity he conducted systematic research, lecturing and writing on Latin American politics and society, with a focus on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. He has also written several op end pieces in newspapers in Argentina, his native country. Currently he is the Founding Director of the Paulo Freire Institute at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS-UCLA). He was featured in the Newspaper La Opinion as one of the most successful Spanish leaders in California. See “La Vocación de Educar. El argentino Carlos Alberto Torres es uno de los profesores de mayor rango en UCLA”. Journal La Opinión, Monday, March 13, 2006, pages 1, 12A.

He served on the Committee for the establishment of the César Chavez Center. He was an educational adviser (ad honorem) of the Argentine National Congress and was a member of the Scientific Commission that worked with the Secretary of State of Science and Technology in Argentina, which provided the guidelines for a new law of science and technology in the country passed by the Argentinean Congress (2000–2001).

He has chaired (1998–2003) the Commission on Education and Society of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, a federation of 148 elite research centers in Latin America. He has served as an evaluator for the Fulbright Programs, and the program for Gifted and Talented Children, US. Department of Education. At UCLA he has served as Assistant Dean for Students Affairs, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies; Head of the Division of Social Sciences and Comparative Education, Department of Education; Chair, Committee of Academic Personnel, Department of Education, and in the Advisory Committees of International Studies and Overseas Programs, the Chicano Studies Research Center, the Pacific Rim Center, the Latin American Studies Inter-Departmental Program, and, as ex officio, the Latin American Center.

In 1991, in partnership with several colleagues, he created the Paulo Freire Institute, PFI, and is currently serving as its Founding Director at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. He also served as director of the UCLA Latin American Center. Dr. Torres has been a Visiting Professor in universities in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has lectured throughout Latin America and the United States, and in universities in England, Japan, Italy, Spain, Tanzania, Finland, Mozambique, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Portugal, Taiwan, Korea, Sweden and South Africa.

He has been vice-president, Research Committee on Political Education (1983–1997), past-president, Comparative International Education Society, Comparative International Educational Society (1994–1998), and he has been elected president, Research Committee on Sociology of Education, International Sociological Association (1998–2002, and 2002–2006). He is the editor of the series of Routledge/Tayor and Francis (New York) on Education, Social Theory and Cultural Change.

He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 1, 1950. He is a political sociologist of education, a published poet and short story author. He did his undergraduate work in sociology in Argentina (B.A. honors and teaching credential in Sociology, Universidad del Salvador), his graduate work in Mexico (M.A. Political Science. FLACSO) and the United States (Master of Arts and Ph.D. in International Development Education, Stanford University), and post-doctoral studies in educational foundations in Canada (University of Alberta). He is a Professor of Social Science and Comparative Education at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.