Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez has been elected to a three-year term on the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) Board. Gonzalez will represent Region V, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
“It is an honor to be joining the NAICU Board of Directors,” said Gonzalez. “This organization plays a pivotal role in advocating for and protecting the independence of private, nonprofit higher education institutions and it is committed to promoting access to higher education for every student, regardless of financial background.”
Founded in 1976, NAICU represents 1,700 institutions in the U.S. and is the only national membership organization solely focused on representing private, nonprofit higher education on public policy issues in Washington, DC. NAICU board members set the association’s agenda on federal higher education policy, actively encourage support for the association’s priorities and initiatives, and oversee the organization’s financial administration.
Gonzalez has served as K’s president since July 2016. He previously served Occidental College as its vice president for academic affairs and dean from 2010–2016. Before working at Occidental, Gonzalez was an economics faculty member at Trinity University for 21 years.
Gonzalez served as the president of the International Trade and Finance Association in 2014. He is the president of the Board of the F.W. and Elsie L. Heyl Science Scholarship Fund, the chair of the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes Colleges Association, and serves on the boards of the Annapolis Group, the American Council on Education, Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities, Michigan Colleges Alliance, Bronson Healthcare Group, Kalamazoo Community Foundation, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
