Manuel (MJR) Montoya, Ph.D. (he/him), is an Associate Professor of Global Political Economy and Cultural Economics in UNM's Department of Economics. His work focuses on global political economy and how we make the planet a meaningful part of our social and economic realities, with published work ranging from international trade to the creative economy. His current research centers on the concept of "rural cosmopolitanism" and how rural areas are acknowledged as having value in the development of the world economy. He also leads discussions and research on the nuances of the creative, craft, and cultural economy, and how it is constantly reshaping the way economic development can be understood and supported around the world.

He attended UNM, where he became the university's first Latinx Rhodes Scholar. He then attended Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in philosophy; NYU, where he studied politics and literature; and Emory University, where he earned his Ph.D. in International Relations and Comparative Literature. He has delivered over 100 lectures worldwide and has advised world leaders on emerging markets and global conflict. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he received UNM's Presidential Teaching Fellowship, the university's highest teaching honor.

He is the creator of Terra Prime, a card-based learning and conversational tool. He serves as academic advisor for the Binational Business Program — a collaboration with the New Mexico Trade Alliance and the COMEXUS/García Robles Foundation — through which he hosts Fulbright scholars at UNM to help raise the economic profile of New Mexico and Mexico. He is deeply involved in university efforts to promote new forms of community-engaged research and teaching and was part of the advisory team that supported UNM's designation as a Community Engaged Research Institution. His work with the Rural Student Connectivity Project works to connect students from rural areas to higher education opportunities while remaining connected to home and community. He also serves as research design instructor for the Ronald McNair Program and as a teaching fellow for Summa Academia, which supports first-generation and BIPOC students in developing graduate-level research strategies.

He has curated a museum exhibit on systems of value and hosts a podcast, Vessels and Voids, exploring the links between popular culture and global civil society. He has written a book of poetry and a collection of short stories and has been an amateur watchmaker for the past 15 years. Dr. Montoya was born and raised in Mora, New Mexico, and considers it vital to his intellectual journey.