Yolanda C. Padilla, Ph.D.

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Yolanda Chávez Padilla, PhD, LMSW-AP, is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the Society for Social Work and Research. In 2019, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Michigan School of Social Work.  

Padilla completed her undergraduate degrees in psychology and social work and earned a master’s degree in social work with a specialization in administration and planning from The University of Texas at Austin. Following her master’s degree, Padilla served as Research, Training, and Community Development Associate at the Mexican American Research Center in Austin, a nonprofit organization providing technical assistance on community development grant management to city managers in small municipalities across five southwestern states. At the Community Action Agency (Cameron and Willacy Counties Community Projects, Inc.) located in the US-Mexico border city of Brownsville, Texas, she oversaw resource development and managed social service programs for low-income families in a two-county area. In addition to her administrative leadership, she worked directly with families in non-profit organizations in Austin providing essential support to those experiencing homelessness and other financial hardship. 

Padilla received a joint doctoral degree in social work and sociology from The University of Michigan, where she studied classical sociology and demography. She trained in the Research and Training Program on Poverty and Public Policy (now Poverty Solutions) at Michigan and was selected as a Fellow in Research on the Urban Underclass by the Social Science Research Council, joining a national interdisciplinary network of scholars investigating the causes and dynamics of persistent and concentrated urban poverty.  

At the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin, Padilla conducts research aimed at advancing knowledge about poverty and informing the development of effective social welfare policy and practice. Her work focuses on the causes and consequences of poverty, emphasizing early childhood health and development and service delivery to low-income families. She serves as a network scholar with the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the nation’s longest-running birth cohort study based on a national probability sample, housed at Princeton University. Padilla has secured over $1.5 million in research funding from diverse sources, including the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development), private foundations, and state agencies. She received an Outstanding Research Award from the Society for Social Work and Research for her study examining factors influencing the earnings potential of Mexican immigrants. Her scholarship includes numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, two journal special issues, and an edited volume. 

Padilla teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focused on social problems and social welfare policy, introductory social work practice, and social work practice with communities and organizations. She developed the interdisciplinary signature course “How to Change the World” for incoming undergraduates. Signature Courses at UT Austin are designed to introduce students from across majors to foundational academic skills and interdisciplinary ways of thinking. In recognition of her innovative teaching, she received the Holleran Steiker Award for Creative Student Engagement from the School of Undergraduate Studies. 

Padilla and her husband, Juan, have two adult children living on opposite coasts.