Norma Stoltz Chinchilla (SOC) Receives “Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Central American Studies”

April 23, 2012

Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Sociology Norma Stoltz Chinchilla received a “Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Central American Studies” by the Lozano-Long Institute for Latin American Studies and the Center for Mexican American Studies. Norma was recognized at the 2012 Lozano-Long Conference at the University of Texas in Austin. The conference title was “Central Americans and the Latino/a Landscape: New Configurations of Latino/a Studies.”

Associate Director of the Institute for Latin American Studies Professor Arturo Arias presented Norma with the award. Prior to co-authoring the award-winning book Seeking Community in a Global City: Guatemalans and Salvadorans in Los Angeles (2001), Norma was the co-founder of the Guatemala Information Center, a human rights group that provided refuge to Guatemalans who arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1980s.

Norma is a distinguished academic, activist, and sociologist. Through her activism and scholarship, Norma helped create Central American studies in the U.S.