Doctor Héctor Manuel Villarreal Beltrán is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Culture at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Xochimilco Campus, in the research area of State Management and Political System.

He holds a Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), with orientation in Political Science (honorable mention); certified in State, Institutions, and Political Processes. He is a member of the National System of Researchers and has been a fellow of the National Council of Science and Technology.

He is co-responsible for the research project Institutional reform and political change in the process of transformation of the Federal District to Mexico City. Approved by the Council of the Division of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Xochimilco Campus (2017-2020 and 2020-2023).

He won first place in the Award for Research on Civil Society of the XII Congress of Research on the Third Sector (Cemefi-ITESM) and is co-winner of the Award for Research Areas of the Division of Social Sciences and Humanities (DCSH) of the Xochimilco Campus of the UAM.

He is the sole author of books published by the Fondo de Cultura Económica, the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, the Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura and the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; of chapters edited by the Xochimilco Campus, as well as refereed articles in several academic journals.

He has presented refereed papers in congresses of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR), the Mexican Association of Political Science (Amecip), the Mexican Association of Communication Researchers (AMIC), the Latin American Association of Sociocultural Studies of Sport (Alesde) and the Network of Researchers in Sport, Physical Culture, Leisure and Recreation.

Invited as a lecturer at the universities of Guanajuato, Veracruzana, Del Tepeyac and De Las Américas-Mexico City, and as a participant in seminars at the Universidad Iberoamericana-Mexico City, the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas de la UNAM and the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI).

He has been an evaluator for the National Sports Commission (Conade) in the National Contest of Research in Physical Culture and Sports on two occasions and a member of the Qualifying Jury of the Research Diploma Contest of the DCSH of the Xochimilco Campus, as well as an academic member of the commissions of the Social Coinvestment Program of the National Institute of Social Development (Indesol).

Member of the Editorial Board of the Mexican Law Review (Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas-UNAM) and Balajú (Universidad Veracruzana), the Vocalía Valle de México of the Consejo Nacional para la Enseñanza y la Investigación de las Ciencias de la Comunicación (CONEICC) and the Editorial Board of the Universidad Iberoamericana-León.

Research interests: political recruitment, political elites, candidate selection, presidential cabinets, political behavior, Mexican political system and governance.