Cecilia Contreras was born in Durango, Mexico. She received her B.S. in Industrial Administration in 2004 from the Superior Studies Division of Insitute 18 de Marzo, Durango, Mexico. She obtained her M.S. in Quality Management in 2011 from the University of Technology of Compiègne, (Sorbonne Universités) Compiègne, France, and her Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. in 2019.  She was advised by Associate Professors Elsa Gonzalez and Rosa Banda.

From 2016 to 2019, she performed the mentor role for a First-Generation Program at TAMU-CC. From 2019 to 2020, she joined the Undergraduate Studies Department as an adjunct faculty where she was assigned to the Political Science section. Also, from 2019 to 2020, she performed as a visiting scholar at the University of Houston under the supervision of Elsa Gonzalez. In 2020, Dr. Contreras joined New Mexico State University (NMSU) in 2020 where she has worked in multiple units such as the School of Teacher Preparation, Administration, and Leadership and the Office of Research, Creativity, and Strategic Initiatives (RCSI). She works currently for the College of Engineering where she teaches, mentors, and leads research and faculty development intitatives.