Noël Busch-Armendariz, Ph.D., LMSW, MPA

Noёl enjoys working collaboratively with others who believe everyone deserves peaceful and prosperous lives. Embracing her Irish roots, Noёl aspires to be a storyteller. She is the University Presidential Professor, Associate Dean for Global Engagement, and Director of the Institute of Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Busch-Armendariz has more than 40 years of international experience, including living and working in Albania, Dubai, Ireland, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Romania, Scotland, and South Korea, and has traveled extensively across the world. Dr. Busch-Armendariz has taught and supervised graduate social work students in these countries, and Ghana and Mexico. Dr. Busch-Armendariz led one of just four UT’s President’s Award for Global Learning (PAGL) programs in 2024  to Northern Ireland, to understand the nexus of harm, peace-building, and well-being economies. In 2019, she was a faculty member of the inaugural PAGL awards, taking students to Lebanon to address refugee women and girls’ health. As Associate Dean for Global Engagement, she strengthens global partnerships and collaborations by expanding opportunities for students and faculty to participate in applied learning and research experiences through engagement with other cultures and worldviews.

Noël teaches graduate courses in human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and restorative practices. Noël is the founding and current director of the UT Austin Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA), a collaboration of the Schools of Social Work, Nursing, Law, and the Bureau for Business. The National Science Foundation (NFS), the National Institute of Justice, the Office for Victims of Crime, the Office on Violence Against Women, and many other foundations and entities have funded her research. To inform the criminal legal system of the complexities of the dynamics of interpersonal violence, Noёl has provided expert testimony in over 100 criminal, civil, and immigration cases. Since 2022, she has been a co-lead on a team responding to and documenting the urgent needs in Uvalde, Texas, in the aftermath of the mass violence following the school shooting in May 2022.

She is well-published, and her colleagues and students have recognized her contributions with distinguished accolades. With colleagues Dr. Maura Nsonwu and Laurie Cook Heffron, Noёl is the first author of two recently released textbooks, a second edition of Human Trafficking: Applying Research, Theory, and Case Studies for Social Work and Helping Professionals (2025), which won the prestigious Hamilton Book Award in 2018. Her new publication, Human Trafficking: Applying Research, Theory, and Case Studies for Criminal Justice, Law, and Policymakers (2025), was also released by Cognella Publishers.

Noёl is an amateur gardener and papel picado creator, watching documentaries, doing yoga, and connecting to nature. She is a sexual assault survivor. Noël is a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Romania 1994 – 1996) and a licensed social worker. She is happily married, and of all roles in life, she has learned the most about love, vulnerability, and commitment by being a momma.