By Ruth López Turley and Caroline Triscik

Research for the Good of Education: An Interview with Ruth López Turley

I do have limitations, but if I am connected to God in this work, then that’s okay. — Ruth López Turley

After years of conducting education research that never made it into the hands of those who needed it, Dr. Ruth López Turley sought a new avenue for meaningful work. Presented with the resources to start something new and bolstered by a transformational encounter with God in a monastery, Ruth embarked on a journey to create reform in research, bringing the beginnings of change to a significantly broken education system. Listen in on our conversation with Ruth as she shares about the intersection of her faith, her career, and family life.

You can listen on iTunes or at All Shall Be Well: Conversations with Women in the Academy and Beyond. We hope you enjoy these conversations as much as we did.

Links mentioned in this interview:

Tags:
About the Author

Professor López Turley directs the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, which brings together data, research, engagement, and action to improve lives. In 2011, she founded the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC), a research-practice partnership between Rice University and eleven Houston area school districts, representing over 700,000 students. A program of the Kinder Institute, HERC works to improve educational equity by connecting research to policy and practice, working directly with district leaders. She directed HERC from 2011 to 2022, during which she raised over $30M so that school districts would not have to pay for research. She also founded the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships, which connects and supports over 60 partnerships between research institutions and education agencies throughout the country. She is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard and is originally from Laredo, Texas.

Caroline served with InterVarsity since 2002 as a campus staff member in northwest Indiana and most recently in central Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a focus on creative writing from Purdue University in 2002 and holds a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling from Messiah College. Caroline, her husband, and their three children live in “the sweetest place on earth,” otherwise known as Hershey, Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she likes to read, discover new music, and attempt to train her exuberant Labrador retriever, Pax. Caroline is a clinical mental health counselor and a former associate with Women in the Academy and Professions.

Comment via Facebook