Esther J. Calzada, Ph.D.

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Esther J. Calzada is the Norma and Clay Leben Professor in Child and Family Behavioral Health at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She also serves as the Director of the Texas Center for Equity Promotion (https://texcep.education.utexas.edu/) in the College of Education, and holds faculty affiliate positions in the Population Research Center and the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, as well as in the Department of Population Health at the New York University School of Medicine.

Professor Calzada is a clinical child psychologist with expertise in parenting and early childhood development in Latinx and other minoritized families. She has a strong commitment to scientific equity, working to both elucidate and counter systemic injustices (e.g., race-based discrimination) that undermine healthy development, and recognize and leverage factors that promote (e.g., ethnic identity) the well-being of young children. Ultimately, her program of research aims to reduce disparities in academic achievement, behavior problems, and socio-emotional problems. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation and is published regularly in psychology, education and medical journals.

Professor Calzada serves on the Governing Council for the Society for Research in Child Development and as associate editor for the Journal of Latinx Psychology and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.  She received her B.A. from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida.