Clifton S. Tanabe serves as the Dean of the College of Education and the Vice Provost for Learning Innovation at The University of Texas at El Paso where he pioneered UTEP’s Miner Teacher Residency, a nationally recognized model that secured millions for aspiring educators and helped shape the passage of House Bill 2—Texas’ landmark legislation investing in teacher preparation, pay, and retention. He has provided expert testimony before the Texas legislature and participated in a U.S. Senate briefing on teacher residency, led multi-sector education partnerships throughout El Paso, and has been profiled by The 74 Million and El Paso Inc.
Tanabe, born in Lafayette, Indiana, credits his grandfather—a Methodist minister—as his greatest hero. Born in Washington state in 1908 to a farming family, his grandfather lost three brothers to the spanish flu pandemic and overcame great hardship to complete his education. He inspired in Tanabe the belief that education transforms lives. With more than 25 years of higher education experience, Tanabe’s career has centered on an unwavering dedication to leveraging the power of education to improve individual and community outcomes.
Prior to arriving at UTEP, Tanabe served at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) as chief of staff to the chancellor, director of institutional transformation, and taught in the Richardson School of Law and the UHM College of Education. He also directed the Leaders for the Next Generation program and co-directed the Hawaii Education Policy Center. He started his academic career as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where he successfully secured over $4 million in federal, state, and private funding.
Tanabe earned his B.A. in Humanities at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, his M.Ed. from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and his Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies and a Law Degree, both from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
His wife, Michelle Tanabe, is the president of a technology company they co-founded, Tanabe Systems Inc., which creates cloud-based data management systems, such as MiCil, offering technology services to non-profits throughout the United States since 1999.