Albert Camarillo is the Leon Sloss Jr. Memorial Professor of history, emeritus, at Stanford University. Born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, Professor Camarillo received his PhD in history from UCLA in 1975 and joined the faculty of Stanford that same year. Over his forty-year career, he trained dozens of graduate students and helped to make Stanford one of the leading institutions in the study of race and ethnicity. He is the recipient of numerous teaching and educational awards, as well as the author of many publications, most notably the foundational text, Chicanos In A Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern California, 1848-1930 (1979). In this interview, Professor Camarillo discusses: his family background and upbringing in Southern California; his educational journey from high school to UCLA; the mentorship of Juan Gómez-Quiñones and his decision to study Mexican American history; his career at Stanford and work to develop a program for the study of race and ethnicity; his reflections on the reception of Chicana/o Studies within the academic profession and how the field has evolved over the decades; as well as his thoughts on important works and developments in the field of Chicana/o Studies and its overall impact over the last fifty years.