2018 Tillman Scholar

Ambyr Rios

Military Spouse
Texas A&M University
Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction

“I am dedicated to advancing opportunities for underserved students who deserve educational equity.”

As a transient military child, Ambyr desired to make a difference. Although the first in her immediate family to have a traditional college experience, Ambyr received tremendous opportunities because of the schools she had attended as a child. As a result, she now wanted to advocate for equal educational opportunities for all students, regardless of their background or neighborhood. In 2008, after graduating both high school and college a year early, Ambyr stowed her English degree from Texas A&M University in a moving box and journeyed to Baltimore, M.D. to teach ninth grade English.

During the following ten years, Ambyr served as a secondary English teacher in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Austin. Ambyr was honored as the Teacher of the Year in two different school settings. Her leadership experiences include roles as a Grade Level Administrator, Supervisory Program Specialist, and district Director of Curriculum & Instruction.

While teaching, Ambyr earned a Master of Arts in Teaching at Johns Hopkins University and a Reading Specialist Certificate at George Washington University. Ambyr’s experiences with underserved students have afforded her incredible opportunities to see breathtaking student resilience, inconceivable academic growth and heartbreaking systematic breakdowns.

With a goal of empowering future teachers to fight for the underserved, Ambyr will begin her next journey as a doctoral student within Texas A&M University’s Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture in 2018 while working as an Associate Director of Online Education. Ambyr’s desire is to empower future teachers to be the transformative leaders all students deserve.