The majority of Noguera's research and teaching has been in the area of urban education, in particular the ways in which schools respond to social and economic forces within the urban environment. He has been praised for applying his philosophies to real-life situations.

From 1990-94 Noguera served on the City of Berkeley School Board. He says he intends to work with public schools Boston area--but not as an elected official.

He has also been praised for his engaging classroom style and was a recipient of the 1997 UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award.

"No one on the Berkeley faculty has contributed more to the resolution of the problems facing urban education in the East Bay," a colleague said in a UC Berkeley news release when Noguera won the teaching award.

Noguera has also been a member of the U.S. Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control Taskforce on Youth Violence and won a Wellness Foundation award for research on youth violence in 1995. He has also served as chair of the Committee on Ethics in Research and Human Rights for the American Educational Research Association.

Noguera is the author of the book The Imperatives of Power: Political Change and the Social Basis of Regime Support in Grenada (1997), an offshoot from his doctoral work.

He has also written articles on "Confronting the Urban in Urban Education" (1996), "Charismatic Leadership and Popular Support" (1996), and "Preventing Violence in Schools" (1995).

Noguera indirectly replaces Charles V. Willie, a sociology professor who will retire after this year. Willie was appointed by President Carter to the President's Commission on Mental Health.