Dr. Melissa Taylor currently serves as Sr. Assistant Dean for Strategy and Equity Initiatives.  She is responsible for strategic planning and change management across the largest college at the University of Texas at Austin. She leads the design, implementation, and sustainment of new initiatives related to education, research and public engagement. Melissa is also responsible for implementing equity-centered changes to institutional practices, policies, and procedures.

Melissa has extensive experience in higher education leadership, academic planning and curriculum design, faculty professional development, and student program management.  Melissa is particularly passionate about addressing systemic inequities of American public education and examining the relationship between higher education and social mobility.  

Melissa holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin.