Barbara Rodriguez

Barbara Rodriguez, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, is proud to be a native New Mexican, growing up in Española.

Until July 2025, she was senior vice provost since 2018, where she oversaw faculty personnel matters, including tenure and promotion; faculty labor relations; and academic policies and procedures.

Rodriguez is a professor of speech and hearing sciences at UNM, joining the faculty in the department in 1999. Before joining the faculty, she worked as a bilingual clinician throughout New Mexico, including in K-12 public education settings, and directed the UNM Speech Language and Hearing Clinic from 1992-1994.

She earned both her bachelor of arts and master of science degrees at UNM and her Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from the University of Washington.

She considers UNM her academic home and feels fortunate to have been able to return to UNM as a tenure-track faculty member after earning her doctorate.

Rodriguez said what she enjoys most about her administrative role is “working closely with academic leadership to foster a collaborative environment to support faculty.”

She maintains a balance with long hours and stress by engaging in physical activity.

“I love chasing a little white (sometimes pink) ball from one hole to another – otherwise known as playing golf. I also enjoy sweating out my stress on my Peloton.”