Marshall Carter-Tripp

Marshall Carter-Tripp joined the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens as interim Director on June 1, 2006. She looks forward to working closely with students, staff, and faculty of UTEP, along with other stakeholders in the El Paso del Norte region, to ensure that the Museum and Gardens serve their needs and interests. In particular her focus will be on the role of the Museum and Gardens in presenting the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert region to both El Pasoans and visitors to the region. The impetus for the foundation of the Museum in 1937, the first one in the City of El Paso, was the expressed desire of the citizens to have a natural history museum—and public interest in our natural and cultural environment is even greater now. No single museum can cover every aspect of that environment and history, and a second focus for her will be collaborating with other museums in the border region.

Dr. Carter-Tripp comes back to UTEP after a career as a US diplomat. During her 24 years as a Foreign Service Officer, she served in numerous countries throughout Europe and Latin America as well as in the U.S. Mission to NATO, concluding as Counselor for Science, Environment, and Technology Affairs at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prior to her Foreign Service work, Carter-Tripp taught political science and criminal justice at Ohio University, Wayne State University, and Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria; during this academic career, she spent one year at UTEP as a visiting professor of political science. While short, the time in El Paso had a profound impact on her, awakening a deep interest in the life of the border and love of the desert. On retirement from the Foreign Service, Carter-Tripp came back to El Paso.

Carter-Tripp studied anthropology and political science at Beloit College in Wisconsin and earned her bachelor's degree there. She holds a master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in political science and African studies. She has written two textbooks, with a colleague in Missouri, on American Government and on a more general over-view of politics.