AUSTIN (KXAN) — A University of Texas at Austin professor and Uvalde-born author was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year for 2023.

Monica Muñoz Martinez, a UT associate professor of history, was honored for “her active participation in speaking out about the 2022 Uvalde shooting and in developing solutions that address racial injustice,” according to a release.

Muñoz Martinez was nominated alongside Michelle Obama, Goldie Hawn, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sandra Day O’Connor and other national honorees. The women are nominated for breaking barriers to make significant changes in their communities and around the world, a release said.

In 2021, she received a “genius grant” for her work that highlighted racial violence along the U.S. southern border.

“People have a right to learn truthful accounts of history in schools, museums, the news and popular culture, even when those histories are troubling,” Martinez said to KXAN in 2019. “This is especially important when lessons of the past can help inspire a more inclusive and equitable future.”