Noël Busch-Armendariz, PhD, LMSW, MPA

Noël Bridget Busch-Armendariz, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized expert in sexual assault, human trafficking, and domestic violence. She has conducted research funded by variety of federal and state agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice’s, National Institute of Justice, Office of Victims of Crimes, and the Office of Violence Against Women, the Texas Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Texas Governor, Criminal Justice Division.

As director of IDVSA (Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault) Busch-Armendariz strives to put her research findings into the hands of game changers, which led to her serving as a member of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. As a result, in 2015 Busch-Armendariz released the most comprehensive and methodologically innovative study of its kind in the nation on the subject and her research institute co-developed a Blueprint with The University of Texas System Police to provide guidance on how to better respond to campus sexual assault survivors. In April 2016, then Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited with Busch-Armendariz to learn how to incorporate research findings and recommendations into policies regarding sexual assault in the military and was later invited to the Pentagon to inform the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff on global workplace harassment and the Coast Guard Investigative Services on sexual assault.  She is the author (with Maura Nsonwu and Laurie Cook Heffron) of the first textbook on human trafficking or modern day slavery, Human Trafficking: Applied Research, Theory, and Case Studies (2018) by SAGE Publishing.

Busch-Armendariz has worked for a shelter organization, and has been support group facilitator, program director, and registered lobbyist.  In addition to her work in the area of interpersonal violence, Busch-Armendariz began working with refugees and immigrants in 1986 as an immigrant assistant and served for seven years as the principal investigator for a program provided intensive health and mental health services to refugees, victims of trafficking, asylees, and other immigrants in Central Texas. Over the past 35 years, she has lived, taught or consulted in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Albania, South Korea, Dubai, and United Arab Emirates and traveled throughout the world.

Busch-Armendariz serves as the vice chair of the board of directors SAFE Alliance, served on the board of directors and executive committee of American Gateways, and was a long-term member of the Texas Council on Family Violence policy committee. Busch-Armendariz is a licensed social worker and a returned Peace Corps volunteer. She has been recognized by her students and colleagues for her superb teaching contributions and by her colleagues as a cherished mentor. Dr. Busch was recently recognized for leading Texas to national prominence in understanding and addressing human trafficking with her keen scientific skills and tenacious quest for innovative problem solving. Larry and Daniel Armendariz are the loves of her life!