Gilberto Cárdenas
Assistant Provost, Julian Samora Chair in Latino Studies & Director of ILS
Gilberto Cárdenas has worked in the area of immigration for thirty years and has gained international recognition as a scholar in Mexican immigration. Three times named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the United States, Dr. Cárdenas has authored or edited numerous books, articles, monographs, and reports on topics covering several fields of specialization, including international migration, economy and society, and race and ethnic relations.

Allert Brown-Gort
Associate Director
Associate Director Allert Brown-Gort is responsible for the management of the Institute. A citizen of both the United States and Mexico, he has worked at the University of Texas at Austin, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, and Televisa in Mexico City, and at Columbia University. In these capacities he has worked on Latino, NAFTA, and Latin American issues. His major research interests are immigration policy and issues of national culture and psychology in the political arena. He has served as an advisor to the US Senate Hispanic Task Force, and his op-eds on immigration issues have appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and Indianapolis Star. Most recently, he co-authored a policy brief describing the potential effects of proposed legislation aimed at controlling unauthorized immigration in Indiana.

Douglas Franson
Assistant Director
Doug Franson comes to the Institute with a wealth of experience in grant and project management. His expertise is in leveraging information technology in order to improve processes. He earned his MBA from Indiana University in 2000 and his BBA from the University of Notre Dame in 1991. He worked for over eleven years in the Graduate School, most recently as assistant director of sponsored programs and, prior to that, as the Graduate School's IT manager.