2025 Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Carmen Tafolla earned a bachelor of arts degree from Austin College with double majors of Spanish and French, and went on to complete the Master of Arts in Education program the following year. She further earned a Ph.D. in bilingual education from The University of Texas at Austin in 1982.

Carmen is recognized as part of the Chicano Literary Movement of the 1970s—one of several artists who gave a voice to the social, political, and cultural experiences of Mexican Americans through poetry and prose. She has worked in the fields of Mexican American studies and bilingual bicultural education at colleges and universities throughout the Southwest for over 35 years, most recently as Professor of Transformative Children’s Literature at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Carmen has published more than 40 books, and her work appears internationally in textbooks, newspapers, journals, magazines, sidewalks, and museum walls. She has performed her one-woman show throughout the Americas, Europe, and New Zealand. Carmen was named Poet Laureate of Texas in 2015, and in 2018, she was the first Latina to be elected President of the Texas Institute of Letters.  Carmen, who Roots author Alex Haley referred to as a “world-class writer,” has received the Library of Congress "Americas Award," six International Latino Book Awards, and countless other accolades. She has been recognized by the National Association of Chicana/Chicano Studies for work, which "gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.” Austin College bestowed upon Carmen a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humane Letters.