Finding Common Ground with Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service
Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas and is also a political analyst for NBC News and Telemundo. She is the first Latina Dean at a presidential institution and was named one of the top 12 scholars in the country by Diverse magazine. Victoria previously taught at Northwestern University and Rutgers and received her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University. Her areas of expertise include civic engagement, women, immigration, Latinos and political psychology. Underlying all of her research interests is the applicability of high-quality, rigorous research to on-the-ground policy realities. She is a former graduate of the University of Arizona Honors College and is proud to call Southern Arizona home.
In today’s episode Victoria breaks down public service and what it looks like across disciplines, the power of frustration in enacting change and helping her advance to where she is today, her parallel career in public service and political analysis in the media, how her lived experience informs her nuanced approach to analysis in issues such as border policy, and more.
