Moreno first visited the Davis campus when her older sister attended as an undergraduate in the early 1970s. She recalls visiting campus often and interacting with the university quite frequently. At a very young age she found a personal interest in textiles and decided to complete her undergraduate degree here, majoring in Textiles and Clothing. She and three other siblings have graduated from UC Davis. "We're a legacy family here," she says proudly. Moreno currently has an undergraduate nephew attending UC Davis as well.

After receiving her undergraduate degree, Moreno moved on to pursue her master's degree at Fresno State and her doctoral degree at Iowa State University. She returned to UC Davis for a year, taking up a postdoctoral position of teaching and research -- a "venture between textiles, clothing, and design."

Following the postdoctoral year Dr. Moreno took up a position as an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island, but the pull to return to the West Coast brought her back to California. UC Berkeley offered her a position as Diversity Director of Arts and Humanities in June 2001. In a completely new role, Dr. Moreno was "creating it from scratch." She recalls it taking a few years to figure it out. "We had to find our own way. It was just a different approach that was needed." She recruited students, gave advice on the graduate application process, served on many Graduate Admissions Committees, and collaborated closely with faculty. Her longstanding experience helped tremendously, as she was able to advise and nurture relationships with graduate students over the course of their studies and research. "Berkeley is a very special place. It was a great job in terms of diversity," she says. However, after being at UC Berkeley for a total of 12 years, Dr. Moreno knew it was not the final step in her career. She says of her decision to return to UC Davis, "I always felt like it would be wonderful to contribute to my alma mater. So that's what brought me here."

You might expect her to still be settling in her office at Surge IV Suite 403, but she has already reached out to multiple diversity student communities on campus and is clear about her goals as the new Graduate Diversity Officer for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). "I want to increase the number of talented, competitive, and diverse graduate students in HASS. We also need a focus on retention. Whether it's UC Berkeley or Yale, [there is] still a significant amount of attrition and it's even higher among diversity students." She explains that it is not only a loss of talent for our campus, but a "devastating situation for the graduate students who lose that effort." She emphasizes that "there needs to be access and success for all."

Passionate and confident about reaching out to the different population of students, Dr. Moreno understands graduate students have a wide range of particular needs. "I know I can facilitate those needs, whether through personal advice and connections, or helping connect graduate students with people who can assist them."

For Dr. Moreno, her job -- her passion -- extends beyond work hours. She finds herself giving support to her students whenever they need it, whether it is a work day or weekend. She recalls a year when she attended seven commencement ceremonies. "It's just heartwarming to see students' success," she says.

On her new position, she comments, "It just ended up being a perfect fit for me."