Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Omar Lopez

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

Biography and expertise

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.

Education

Doctorate Degree

PhD in Educational Administration

University of Texas at Austin, 1995

Master's Degree

MS in Business Administration

University of Southern California, 1987

Master's Degree

MBA in Business Administration

Univ of California-Irvine, 1983

Bachelor's Degree

BA in Biophysics

Trinity University, 1979

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Qasem, Apan Muhammad (Principal), Royal, Cindy L (Co-Principal), Hewitt, Barbara A (Co-Principal), Booth, Chad (Co-Principal), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Sriraman, Vedaraman (Co-Principal), Forsythe, Michelle Elizabeth (Co-Principal), Dolezel, Diane M (Supporting), Omana Sudhakaran, Pratheesh O (Supporting), Lollar, Jonathan Ernest (Supporting), Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Supporting), Ekin, Tahir (Supporting), Cordero, Rafael A (Supporting), Lopez, Omar S (Supporting), 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.
  • Lopez, Omar S (Co-Principal). Ergonomics in Construction and General Industries, US Department of Labor, Federal, $150000. (Funded: January 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024). Grant.
View all grants
  • Bhalla, N., Bucklin, C. J., Devlin, M. B., Lopez, O. S., & Stephan, K. (n.d.). Engineering Fit: Developing a Tool to Identify Skills-Job Mismatch Among Engineering Students. https://doi.org/doi:10.25334/ZQY1-W289
  • 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.
  • Lopez, O. S. (2025).
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

  3. Organizer

  4. Member

  5. Member

  6. Chair

  7. View all activities