Associate Director, Mellon Research Scholars Program
Program Director, Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards
As the associate director of the Mellon Research Scholars program, Rikki Bettinger works directly with the Mellon Scholars as they conduct individual research projects in the humanities and apply to competitive graduate programs. She also coordinates the Houston Early Research Experience (HERE) program and the Senior Honors Thesis program. She received her doctorate in Latin American history from the University of Houston in 2018. She specializes in 19th century transnational Latin American and Caribbean women’s histories with an emphasis on travel writings in the Americas. She also completed a master’s degree in history at The University of Texas at San Antonio and holds a bachelor’s degree in history secondary education from the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to pursuing graduate studies, she taught high school history in San Antonio.
