About the Deans
Undergraduate Education
Bio:
Begoña Echeverria is the daughter of immigrants to southern California. A native Basque speaker with a PhD in sociology, she is a Professor at UC Riverside’s School of Education. Her publications include “Witches” and Wily Women: Saving Noka Through Basque Folklore and Song (2020) and two historical novels: The Hammer of Witches(2014) and Apparitions (in press). Her docudrama Picasso Presents Gernika blends primary sources with historical fiction to consider the child refugee crisis caused by Hitler’s bombing of the Basque town Gernika in 1937, as well as the artistic journey of Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece, Guernica. In collaboration with UCR’s Department of Theatre, Film and Digital Production, Echeverria has staged three readings of the play, most prominently at UN Headquarters in New York City, to commemorate World Refugee Day (June 20, 2022). She is also a singer-songwriter with the Basque-American musical trio NOKA, with over 60 performances, including at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Kennedy Center, and the Library of Congress.
Undergraduate Education
Bio:
Dr. Robert Ream is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Student Success. In his role, Dr. Ream initiates and leads a variety of programs focused on supporting the undergraduate student population at UCR, including broad-based retention, students’ feelings of belonging, timely graduate rates, and the overall academic success of UCR undergraduates.
Dr. Robert Ream joined UC Riverside faculty in 2004 after completing postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University and the RAND Corporation. While on leave from UCR (2013-2015), Dr. Ream served as an Associate Program Officer at the Spencer Foundation in Chicago. In 2019, he was appointed Interim Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Programs in the School of Education at UC Riverside, which saw increased enrollment and graduation rates during his tenure. Dr. Ream has served as PI or Co-PI on grants that include studies funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. His research interests include social capital, trust, and the social dynamics of inequality in educational opportunity and achievement in K-12 and higher education settings. Eliminating large differences in opportunity and achievement among vulnerable student populations is a central focus of his scholarship on the political, economic, and health underpinnings of educational inequality.
Throughout his career, Dr. Ream has focused on creating the essential structures needed for a supportive educational community—including holistic advising, student seminars, writing support, service-learning opportunities, and scholarships—to bolster student achievement, persistence, and overall well-being. As part of this effort, the School of Education recently announced the Black Community Education Promise (BCEP) Scholars Program designed to support incoming freshman or transfer students who historically have not been well served in higher education. In his new role as Associate Dean for Student Success, Dr. Ream will continue his work to bridge opportunity gaps and support UCR’s diverse undergraduate student body.