Kalamazoo College has announced who will become the institution's 18th president.
Jorge Gonzalez will take over the role after current president Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran retires this summer.
Gonzalez is currently vice president of academic affairs and dean at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
He grew up in Mexico, where he earned an economics degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology.
Gonzalez said a year spent studying abroad at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was a "life-changing experience" that helped shape his educational values.
His deep-seated beliefs in both international and experiential education, he said, are what drew him to Kalamazoo College.
"[Kalamazoo College] combines the liberal arts with experiential education by providing opportunities for the students to study abroad, to engage in the real world through internships and community engagement," Gonzalez said. "These are things that through my career, I have been doing."
Gonzalez, who calls himself a "die-hard Spartan," holds graduate degrees from Michigan State University.
He comes to Kalamazoo with 25 years of experience as an administrator and professor at Trinity College in Texas and Occidental College.
"I feel my life has been a preparation for this incredible opportunity to advance the liberal arts and the K-Plan," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez will start his new position in July.
