Irasema Coronado received her bachelor's degree in political science and a certificate of Latin American Studies from the University of South Florida. She has an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Arizona. Her area of specialization is comparative politics. Her dissertation topic focused on the role of transboundary political elites on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Irasema Coronado is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, a contributing faculty member of the Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. program, and associate provost. She is co-author of the book titled “Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border” and several academic articles "Conflictos Ambientales Internacionales e Intranacionales," "Legal Solutions Vs Environmental Realities: The Case of the United States-Mexico Border Region." She has co-edited “Digame! Policy and Politics on the Texas Border” and the book “Juntos Pero No Revueltos: Estudios sobre la frontera Texas-Chihuahua”. She also coauthored “Latinas in Local Government, Políticas: Latina Public Officials in Texas” in 2008.

She was the recipient of a Border Fulbright in 2004 and continues to collaborate at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez.

Irasema Coronado was the president of the Association for Borderland Studies 2005-2006. She served as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency Good Neighbor Environmental Board from 1999-2002 and co-chair of the Coalition Against Violence Toward Women and Children on the Border. She was also part of the National Advisory Committee for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2003-2006 and member of the academic advisory board for Ms. Magazine.

Her research interests continue to evolve around the role of women in politics and cross-border cooperation at the local level on the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Irasema Coronado has had a variety of academic and administrative positions at the University of Texas El Paso. She served as graduate Advisor in the Department of Political Science September 2006- January 2008; Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Texas at El Paso September 1, 2005-September 1, 2006 and associate dean of the college of liberal arts 2007-2008. Presently, she serves as an associate provost at the University of Texas at El Paso.