Jose D. Villalobos is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Provost’s Faculty Fellow-in-Residence in the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Texas at El Paso. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and his doctoral degree from Texas A&M University. He received the George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award, for best dissertation on the U.S. Presidency, awarded by the Presidency Research Group of the American Political Science Association in 2009. His most recent achievement is the University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and he also was awarded UTEP’s Most Distinguished Faculty Member Award for commitment to teaching excellence earlier in 2014.
His core areas of research are presidential management/policymaking and the public presidency. In particular, he focuses on questions that explore how and why presidential managerial and rhetorical strategies influence policymaking performance and, in turn, how the public influences and appraises such efforts. He is also interested in studies on race/ethnicity and immigration. His publications include articles in Political Research Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Administration & Society, Public Administration, Review of Policy Research, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, International Journal of Public Administration, International Journal of Conflict Management, Contemporary Politics, and Race, Gender & Class.
Dr. Villalobos currently serves as a board member for the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. He recently served as the Executive Politics section chair for the 2013 Western Political Science Association conference and has been selected to serve as the Presidential/Executive Politics section chair for the 2015 Southern Political Science Association conference. He was also selected to serve as a keynote speaker for the Mexican-American Bar Association of El Paso and LULAC. Prior to that, he served as President of the Midwest Latino/a Caucus section of the Midwest Political Science Association from 2008-2011. At UTEP, Dr. Villalobos serves as a Fellow for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Director of Student Enhancement and External Relations, Faculty Senator, member of the Political Science Department’s Undergraduate Committee, and department website manager.
On Sept. 1, 2022, the Department of Political Science became part of the Bush School of Government & Public Service.
