Carmen Samora earned a PhD in American Studies at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She is the director of the Julian Samora Legacy Project (JSLP), housed under the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute at UNM. Samora teaches courses in race and social justice as well as biography using oral histories and life stories of Latino intellectuals who were active during the second half of the 20th century. Her dissertation is entitled Los Tres Grandes – Herman Gallegos, Ernesto Galarza, Julian Samora: Rooted in Community, Guided by Friendship, Cultivating Leadership. Samora, through the JSLP, is continuing student mentoring and leadership development aspects of Julian Samora’s legacy through web-based curriculum using the archives of many late 20th century Latino scholars. Samora has a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Education from UNM. Moving Beyond Borders: Julian Samora and the Establishment of Latino Studies is her first book. Carmen Samora is the daughter of the late Julian Samora.

Samora worked for the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, designing and implementing programs for the blind until 2001 when she resigned to direct the Julian Samora Legacy Project. The project is committed to developing Dr. Samora’s extensive archive and has made his papers available through samoralegacymedia.org and thereby accessible to a broad range of scholars, students, and community leaders. The Project also develops biographical materials about the pioneers in Latino civil rights. Ms Samora is currently writing a memoir about her mother, the late Betty Archuleta Samora.