Rate My Professor Walter Diaz

Walter Diaz is a professor of political science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). He served as the founding Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, playing a critical role in establishing the interdisciplinary college by combining resources and academic strengths from three legacy institutions. From 2011 to 2015, he was Dean of the College of Social Sciences at UTRGV's legacy institution, The University of Texas-Pan American. Prior to joining UTRGV, Diaz was a full professor of political science in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM), where he also served as interim chair of the department and director of its Center for Applied Social Research. In 2024, following his tenure as Dean, he returned to the faculty.

Diaz holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. His primary research interests center on the social roots and consequences of extreme events, the implications of technology on political participation and access to higher education, and the application of social science methodology to inform public policy. He has served on the US Army Corps of Engineers Island Task Force, the Puerto Rico Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, and NOAA’s National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. Key publications include the book Severe Weather Warnings: An Interdisciplinary Approach (2022), "Tornado Warnings in Three Southern States: A Qualitative Analysis of Public Response Patterns" (2012, co-authored with William R. Donner and Havidan Rodriguez), and "Puerto Rico Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Program-LANTEX 09 Survey" (2009). These contributions have influenced public policy on disaster warnings and mitigation. Diaz serves on the board of directors of Humanities Texas.