She won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2011 for Latin America for her work determining the chemical composition of nebulae.

She returned to Mexico to conduct post-doctoral research at her alma mater.

[3] Torres-Peimbert was the editor of Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica from 1974 to 1998 [1][4] Torres-Peimbert was named President of the International Astronomical Union for the 2015-2018 period, becoming the second woman to preside over the IAU.

She won the award for investigating the "chemical composition of nebulae" which the organisers considered essential to our understanding of the beginning of the cosmos.

[5] She also won the Hans A. Bethe Prize in 2012 for her work in determining the quantities of helium and other elements during the development of the universe.