Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Omar S Lopez

  • Professor - Org, Wkforce, & Ldrshp Studies
Portrait of Dr. Omar S Lopez

Biography and education

Dr. López grew up in south Texas along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, in one of the poorest counties in the U.S. His daily observations of the effects from poverty on children and families left a definitive mark on his career decisions. Dr. López’ academic training includes the physical sciences, management, and education. This prepared him to work in different sectors as an engineer, business consultant, and education policy researcher. While these occupations provided a way to make a living, his south Texas experiences gave him the passion to seek a meaningful life where his work could focus on using transdisciplinary methodologies to solve some of the thorniest problems confronting society's most vulnerable populations. The result are his diverse publications, having published in the fields of educational technology, economics of education, teacher education accountability, higher education sustainability, and family studies.

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Bhalla, Nandini (Co-Principal), Devlin, Michael Brandon (Co-Principal), Bucklin, Carrie Jo (Co-Principal), Lopez, Omar S (Co-Principal), Stephan, Karl (Co-Principal). Engineering Fit: Developing a tool to identify skills-job mismatch among engineering., Quanta Services Research Development Fund, Texas State University, $2500. (Funded: May 2024). Grant.
  • Qasem, Apan Muhammad (Principal), Royal, Cindy L (Co-Principal), Hewitt, Barbara A (Co-Principal), Dolezel, Diane M (Supporting), Omana Sudhakaran, Pratheesh O (Supporting), Lollar, Jonathan Ernest (Supporting), Booth, Chad (Co-Principal), Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Supporting), Ekin, Tahir (Supporting), Cordero, Rafael A (Supporting), Lopez, Omar S (Supporting), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Sriraman, Vedaraman (Co-Principal), Forsythe, Michelle Elizabeth (Co-Principal), Mendez, Francis A (Supporting). STEM-CLEAR: Creating Contextualized Learning Pathways across Academic and Cultural Boundaries, National Science Foundation, Federal, $2646529. (Submitted: August 8, 2023, Funded: June 1, 2024 - June 2029). Grant.
  • Daspit, Joshua J. (Principal), Wan, Min (Co-Principal), Anderson, Sidney Thomas (Co-Principal), Konopaske, Arthur R (Co-Principal), Lopez, Omar S (Co-Principal). Understanding and addressing the lagging growth of Hispanic-owned businesses, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $406682. (Submitted: February 23, 2022, Funded: January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025). Grant.
  • Lopez, Omar S (Principal), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Boden, Carrie J (Co-Principal), Cherrstrom, Catherine Ann (Co-Principal), Singh, Shailendra Mohan (Co-Principal), Xie, Lei (Co-Principal), Sherron, Todd (Co-Principal), Gottschall, Portia Manhan (Co-Principal). Workforce College Completion Collaborative (WorkforceC3), EDA American Rescue Plan Act Good Jobs Challenge, Federal, $1892062. (Submitted: February 15, 2022, Funded: September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2025). Grant.
  • Sherron, T., Ashford, S. N., Cherrstrom, C. A., Lopez, O. S., Boden, C. J. College credit for heroes (CCH) Phase VI, Texas Workforce Commission, State, $241630. (Submitted: 2017, Funded: 2017 - 2020). Grant.
View all grants
  • Li, G., Li, L., Xie, L., & Lopez, O. S. (2023). The Effects of Ethical Leadership on Creativity: A Conservation of Resources Perspective. Current Psychology.
  • Cherrstrom, C. A., Lopez, O. S., & Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2022). STEM knowledge in non-STEM occupations: Implications for community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 46(7), 457–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2020.1868359
  • Lopez, O. S. (2020). Yet Another Pathway to College Completion: CLEP Exams. Community College Journal of Research and Practice.
  • Sherron, T., Singh, S. M., Cherrstrom, C. A., Xie, L., Kukde, R. D., Hyden, B. M., … Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2025). Constructing Educational Possibilities with Experiential Learning and Prior Learning Assessment. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3102/2196027
  • Sherron, T., Cherrstrom, C. A., Singh, S. M., Quayson, F. O., King, J. A., Kukde, R. D., … Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2025). Credentialing Workplace Learning: Factors Impacting Prior Learning Assessment. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3102/2191524
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Fulbright Specialist, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), U.S. Department of State. March 1, 2016 - December 31, 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching, Texas State University. September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2021
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Teaching Award Honor, Texas State University. August 31, 2020 - August 31, 2021
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite Professor, Alfred H. Nolle Chapter of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, Texas State University. August 1, 2017 - August 31, 2018
  • Award / Honor Recipient: OLC’s Effective Practices Award, Online Learning Consortium. October 1, 2015
View all awards
  1. Member

    Principal Investigator (PI) Council

  2. Member

    OWLS Department Personnel Committee

  3. Reviewer / Referee

    Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

  4. Reviewer / Referee

    Frontiers in Education

  5. Other

    OWLS Competency-Based Education (CBE) Program

  6. Member

    Diversity Scholars Network, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan

  7. View all activities