PhD in History from the University of Valencia. She is a researcher at the Institute for Research on the University and Education (IISUE) at UNAM and an adjunct professor in the graduate program of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM, in the History Department.
She was born on April 17, 1955, in Mexico City, into a migrant family of Italo-American and Mexican German descent. During her childhood, she lived in various countries, but her strong bond with her maternal grandmother, a native of Los Reyes Acaquilpan, led her to identify with her Mexican heritage and choose history as her field of study. She studied at Universidad Iberoamericana and worked as an assistant at INAH, which allowed her to participate in Enrique Florescano's seminar and be influenced by prominent historians such as Carlos Sempat Assadurian and John Murra.
Her social service in Ocoyoacac, State of Mexico, sparked her interest in agrarian history and indigenous communities' relationship with their land. In 1979, she earned her undergraduate degree with a thesis on land tenure. She formally joined CESU (now IISUE) as a researcher in 1981. In 1989, she obtained her PhD from the University of Valencia and published part of her research in From Lordship to Indian Republic: The Case of Toluca, 1500-1600, one of her most cited works. Her work was included in The Colonial System in Spanish America (1991), gaining her international recognition. That same year, she received the National University Distinction for Young Researchers in Humanities, being the first female historian to receive this honor.
She has developed two main lines of research: the history of indigenous communities and the history of universities in Hispanic America. Her work has been fundamental in reclaiming indigenous people as historical subjects in educational processes. She has published 16 authored books, 10 coordinated books, 85 book chapters, and 27 articles in high-impact journals. Her work is indexed in databases such as Scopus and Web of Science and she has received numerous national and international awards.
She has participated in thesis committees at various institutions, including UNAM, UAM, COLMEX, COLMICH, COLSAN, Instituto Mora, and ENAH, and has supervised at least 37 theses. Today, her former students hold positions in prestigious research centers such as CIESAS, COLMEX, and COLMICH.