Milagros A. Méndez has been a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico since 1995 and is currently the Acting Chair of the Psychology Department.  She is the co-chair of the Psychology and Education Training Committee (PET) of the Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations (CANPA).

She obtained her Masters in Educational Psychology and PhD in School Psychology from Fordham University, NY, USA.  She was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. After completion of her PhD she moved to Puerto Rico where she is been residing ever since.

Her research interests are related to risk and protective factors, youth development, children and poverty, children rights and resiliency, sexuality and school violence. She is committed to the development of a global psychology that takes into account a decolonizing and human rights perspective for the teaching, curriculum development and professional psychology.  Her current professional and research interest, for which is currently funded, is related to post disaster delivery of mental health services from an interdisciplinary approach.