Dr. Linda G. Castillo is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology and School Counseling programs at Texas A&M University and a fellow of the Mexican American/Latino Research Center at Texas A&M University. Dr. Castillo’s expertise and research focuses on her professional and personal commitment to reduce the educational, mental health, and health disparities of Mexican Americans. Her current work involves expanding current acculturation theory and measurement by examining the influence of heritage culture on the acculturation process. She is the Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Gulf Coast GEAR UP project, a $1.6 million program funded by the U.S. Department of Education which prepares underrepresented student to successfully enroll in and complete college. In this 6-year project, Dr. Castillo and her team promotes educational social justice issues in the community by incorporating counseling psychology knowledge and skills to address educational disparities in three rural school districts in south Texas. Dr. Castillo was also recently recognized for her work when she was awarded the Many Faces of Counseling Psychology Award at the 2008 International Counseling Psychology Conference.