Juan Carlos Espinosa
Dean– The Honors College
Florida International University
Juan Carlos Espinosa is a political scientist with degrees from the University of Miami and Florida State University. He joined FIU in 2006 as Associate Dean and Faculty Fellow at the Honors College. In that position, he focused on curriculum, research, and community engagement. He became interim Dean in July 2017 and was appointed Dean in May 2018.
Espinosa has taught Honors College courses at every level from the Freshman Seminar to Upper Division seminars on public policy and climate change. As Associate Dean, he led an effort to restructure the Honors curriculum to put a greater focus on critical thinking, written and oral communication, research, and other skills needed for academic success for the high-achieving students of the Honors College.
As Dean, Espinosa is leading the effort to rethink undergraduate Honors education understanding an academic major does not give students sufficient preparation for life after college. The Honors College prepares students to be agile, flexible, and resourceful by offering them the intellectual and vocational tools they will need to master the literacies they will need to navigate in a rapidly changing world. A critical part of the reform is the tearing down of the wall between the curricular and the co-curricular and providing students with opportunities for experiential learning through internships, jobs, competitions, and projects.
Espinosa has served on numerous university-wide committees including the Strategic Planning Committee, the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Committee, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Committee. He has also served on several local, state, and regional boards including Seraphic Fire and the Florida Undergraduate Research Council. Espinosa has been inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society of the University of Miami, the Florida International University Order of the Torch, and as an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa.