Curriculum Review Committee

Dr. Margarita Benítez’s lifelong involvement with higher education began at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where she was born and raised. At UPR, she was a professor of Spanish Literature and Humanities, as well as Chancellor of UPR’s Cayey Campus, and Acting Chancellor of UPR’s Humacao Campus. After moving to Washington, DC in 1997, she held a number of senior positions in higher education organizations, such as the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Dept. of Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Excelencia in Education, The Education Trust, and the American Council on Education. In 2013, Dr. Benítez was one of four educators in the United States selected by Lumina Foundation for Education as a Lumina Fellow, in recognition of her work for access and success for underrepresented students. In September 2018, Benítez returned to Puerto Rico to serve as executive director of the Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. João B. Chaves is Assistant Professor of the History of Religions in the Américas at Baylor University’s Department of Religion. He specializes in the history of religion in the Américas, U.S. Protestantism’s impact in Latin America, and Latin American/Latinx religious networks in the U.S. He authored several books, including Migrational Religion (Baylor University Press, 2021), The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South (Mercer University Press, 2022), and Remembering Antônia Teixeira (Eerdmans, 2023), co-authored with Dr. Mikeal Parsons. Chaves’ co-edited works include Baptists and the Kingdom of God (Baylor University Press, 2023) with Dr. T. Laine Scales and a manuscript tentatively titled A Place of Their Own: Religion and Immigration Among Latinos in the U.S. (Oxford University Press, under contract) with Lloyd Barba and Silvia Pedraza. His peer-reviewed articles have appeared in several academic journals, such as The International Journal of Latin American Religions, The Journal of Reformed Theology, Political Theology, Review and Expositor, Perspectives in Religious Studies, and Baptist History and Heritage. Beyond academia, Chaves contributed opinion pieces to outlets like the Washington Post and The Christian Century and serves on editorial boards for various publications. Before joining Baylor’s faculty, Chaves held roles at the Hispanic Theological Initiative at Princeton Theological Seminary and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. is the Werner R.H. Krause and Elizabeth Ringger Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries, professor of Systematic Theology and director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He has been a faculty member since 2004. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Concordia Seminary (2003) and his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. (1999). He holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in theology from Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon (1995).Sánchez served as the main drafter for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Commission on Theology and Church Relations report Immigrants among Us: A Lutheran Framework for Addressing Immigration Issues (2012). He served as president of the LCMS’ Fifth National Hispanic Convention (2012–15), the Hispanic Convention’s vice president in the previous triennium (2009–12), and chairman of Lutherans in Medical Missions (2012–16), an LCMS Recognized Service Organization. He also has served organizations such as the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, Lutheran Hour Ministries, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service as a theological consultant for various projects.