María José Álvarez Rivadulla

María José Álvarez Rivadulla is a Full Professor of Sociology at the University of the Andes, Colombia, where she founded the Sociology Department. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh (2009), with earlier degrees from Uruguay’s University of the Republic. Her work focuses on social inequality, urban sociology, and public policy, particularly in Latin America. She combines quantitative and qualitative methods to study topics like residential segregation, social movements, and care policies.

Research Interests: Dr. Álvarez specializes in urban marginality, social mobility in segregated societies, and the intersection of class, gender, and public policy. She has authored books such as *Política en los Márgenes* (on informal settlements in Montevideo) and *Costly Opportunities* (on social mobility barriers). Current projects include comparative analysis of Bogotá’s care policies and urban interventions like cable cars.

Awards: Recipient of the Tinker Visiting Professorship (UT Austin, 2020). She serves on the editorial board of the *International Journal of Urban and Regional Research* and co-edits Springer’s *Latin American Societies* series. Recent publications explore feminist care policies, class interaction in elite universities, and urban inequality.

Grants & Advising: Methodological advisor for the *Alliances for Care* project. Supervised research includes studies on Ser Pilo Paga scholarship effects, urban violence in Colombia, and middle-class dynamics in Latin America.