NJCU introduces Gonzalez as inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer

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New Jersey City University (NJCU) President Sue Henderson announced on May 21 the appointment of Angel Gonzalez as the institution’s inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer, effective June 14.

Gonzalez was selected after an extensive national search that included input from faculty, staff, students and board members. The chief diversity and inclusion officer will be a critical addition to the university’s senior leadership team and provide transformative leadership to advance equity, diversity and inclusion as part of NJCU’s core mission.

“The hiring of a chief diversity and inclusion officer is a milestone in NJCU’s history and is an outcome of the continual efforts that have taken place at the university to develop plans for broader, measurable diversity goals for the institution,” said Henderson. “This new position will help ensure that these are well implemented. Dr. Gonzalez emerged from an exceptional pool of candidates during the search process for this critical position and he will bring valuable leadership to our institution as we work to further enhance our commitment to these critical issues.”

Gonzalez will join the NJCU community from Stony Brook University in Long Island, N.Y. At Stony Brook since August 2012, he has served as program manager for the Center for Inclusive Education (CIE), the Graduate School, including an appointment as interim director of the CIE and interim assistant dean for diversity and inclusion.

In his term as interim assistant dean, he directed strategic initiatives that encouraged diversity, equity and inclusion in the administrative oversight of seven externally-funded programs, and wrote NIH grant proposals. Gonzalez oversaw the implementation of a SUNY-funded initiative to create a pathway to advance SUNY graduate students onto postdoctoral trainee-ships and tenure-track faculty positions within the SUNY system.

Gonzalez earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach in 2004, a Master of Arts, Social/Health Psychology from Stony Brook in 2009 and a Doctor of Philosophy, Social/Health Psychology, also at Stony Brook, in 2012.