Dr. Francisco Villarruel is the HDFS Associate Chair for Education, an Outreach a University Outreach and Engagement Senior Fellow and Professor. He is a founding faculty member of the GPI-Youth Development program - an online asynchronous master's program for prospective youth professionals.

Dr. Villarruel has worked with numerous communities, state, and federal agencies to address the involvement of Latino youth in juvenile justice systems programs. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Campaign for Youth Justice and is also working with colleagues across the nation to establish The Alianza for Latino Youth Justice – a consortium of practitioners, advocates, funders, families and scholars that seek to engage in culturally relevant practices to address the needs of Latino youth secure placements. He has authored numerous policy reports that seek to contribute to a fair and equal justice program for youth. He has also been involved in research that focuses on youth development and what communities can do to foster the development transitions of youth to adulthood. 

Dr. Villarruel teaches two graduate seminars for the GPI-Youth Development Program: Youth Policy and Cultures of youth.