Dr. Durán serves as the Assistant Vice President for Teaching and Learning at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Durán serves as the primary liaison between technology and academics for the university and has been instrumental in fostering a culture of innovative teaching and learning at TAMUK. Dr. Durán is sought out for keynotes and presentations across the nation on the topics of innovative learning spaces, pioneering distance learning practices, effective managerial strategies, and inventive digital learning approaches.
Dr. Durán is a leader in the field of digital learning and is currently serving as Chairperson of the Board for the Texas Distance Learning Association, Chair of the Texas A&M University System Council for Academic Technology and Innovative Education, Vice Chair of the Learning Technology Advisory Committee for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Managing Editor of the TxDLA Journal of Distance Learning, Chair of the South Texas Higher Education Regional Council, and is an active member in multiple additional professional associations and committees. Dr. Durán is a strategic visionary that has led many digital learning initiatives that have influenced the profession.
Throughout Dr. Durán’s tenure in higher education, she has received numerous accolades and awards for her contribution to the advancement of the fields she is actively involved in: distance learning, counseling, and student affairs. Durán has received individual and team recognition for her work in distance learning through the TxDLA: Don Foshee Award for Outstanding Leadership Award, Outstanding Commitment to Excellence and Innovation in Distance Learning (twice), Three Year Presidency Commitment to Service Award for TxDLA, Bennie Tschoener Award for Outstanding Commitment to TxDLA by an Individual and an Institution, and was a Texas Fall Leadership Conference Scholarship Recipient. For her work as a professional counselor her work was also recognized: selected as the Emerging Leader, Outstanding Graduate Student Award for the Texas Counseling Association, the Outstanding Graduate Student Award for the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and the Emerging Leader and Grant Recipient for the American College Counseling Association. Her leadership qualities were acknowledged as a beginning professional as the New Professional of the Year for the Texas Association for College and University Student Personnel Administrators. Most recently Dr. Duran was recognized by the USDLA as a recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award.
Dr. Durán attained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Master’s of Education degree in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Texas-Pan American, legacy institution of the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.