Viola M. López-Madrid-Herrera, a Hispanic woman, was born in El Rito, a rural community in Northern New Mexico. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from New Mexico Highlands University. Through an Educational Professional Development Award, she completed a master's degree in counseling and guidance and a Doctor of Education degree in educational administration from Oklahoma State University in three years while raising four children. López-Madrid-Herrera and her husband, Joseph D. Madrid, have four grown children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.