The American Counseling Association (ACA) announced Feb. 16 that Dr. Edil Torres Rivera, professor of Counseling and director of Latinx Studies at Wichita State, has been elected to serve as the ACA’s president-elect beginning July 1. Rivera will begin serving as the ACA’s 72nd president on July 1, 2023.
“Being the first Latinx male to be ACA president and the first Puerto Rican is a humbling experience and yet provides a great sense of pride and satisfaction to be able to serve the counseling profession nationwide,” said Rivera.
Rivera specializes in multicultural counseling, group work, chaos theory, liberation psychology, technology, supervision, multicultural counseling, prisons, Puerto Rican studies, identity development, and gang-related behavior. His research has appeared in numerous prestigious national journals, and he serves on two editorial boards.
Rivera also leads WSU’s Latinx Studies program. The Latinx Studies Initiative, launched in 2019, allows the university to better serve its growing number of Latinx students by hiring educators with expertise in Latinx needs.
“Dr. Torres Rivera has established himself as a key leader within the Wichita State community and the counseling profession,” Dr. Clay Stoldt, interim dean of the College of Applied Studies, said. “He consistently brings expertise, energy and commitment to his work leading WSU’s Latinx Studies initiative and as a counseling educator. We are thrilled that Rivera has been elected to this prestigious position and know the ACA will benefit from his leadership, just as we have.”
A member of the ACA Governing Council from 2018 to 2021, Rivera also served on the ACA Executive Committee. From 2010-2011, Rivera served as President of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD).