Betty M. Merchant

Betty M. Merchant is the Henrietta Frances Zezula Lowak Endowed Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She previously served as the first chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and as dean of the College of Education and Human Development. Before joining UTSA, she was a tenured associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Merchant has taught all grade levels in multicultural settings across the U.S. and on Native American reservations. Her research focuses on diversity and educational reform, educational policy analysis, democratic school leadership in increasingly diverse and polarized political contexts, international comparative studies on the educational and social experiences of refugee youth and their families, and longitudinal studies of school leadership. Merchant earned a PhD in administration and policy analysis from Stanford University.

updated 2025