Lina R. Mendez has over 20 years of experience working in higher education. Currently, she is the founding director of the Hispanic Serving Institution Initiative at UC Davis.
Dr. Mendez received her doctorate from UC Davis in educational policy and school organization in 2010. Dr. Mendez has held leadership positions with the Latinx Staff and Faculty Association (Davis and Sacramento), Staff Diversity Administrative Committee and the UC Davis Chicanx Latinx Alumni Association.
She is currently a board member for the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. As a reflection of her commitment to education she has received several awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award for Embodying Diversity and Equity (2023) by the Equity Summit, UC Davis Staff Assembly Citation of Excellence Team Award (2020), the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community (2018), the Social Justice Award for Seeding Improvement in Education Policy and Practice (2018) and the Outstanding Advising Administrator Award (2017).