Gloria Bonilla-Santiago is a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor and a Full Professor with the Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration. She directs the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership and is the overseer and Board Chair of the LEAP Academy University Charter School. Throughout her academic career at Rutgers, she has established a track record in coordinating large scale programs, private and public ventures that bring together external stakeholders from the philanthropic sectors at the local, national and international levels. In 1993, she received the Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest recognition for teaching given to Rutgers' faculty by the President of the University.

Dr. Santiago has a long record of service and the impact of her work on poor children / families, minorities, and community. She is a passionate and enthusiastic educator, who has focused her professional acumen on helping people to be able to become self-reliant  citizens through education and professional development. Her work on behalf of children and families has resulted in the development of a model charter school in Camden City that today serves 870 students in grades K-12 and has become a hub for serving the families of these children through a number of school based service centers.

Dr. Santiago is the author of numerous articles and two books: Breaking Ground and Barriers: Hispanic Women Developing Effective Leadership (Marin 1992) and Organizing Puerto Rican Migrant Farmworkers: the Experience of Puerto Ricans in New Jersey (Peter Lang 1988). She has also presented at national and
international academic meetings.