Jose B. Gonzalez is a Latino poet and educator.

José González did not speak English when he emigrated from El Salvador and landed in New London, CT at the tender age of 8. Today, he holds a Ph.D. in English and is a Distinguished Professor of English at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

A dedicated educator and prolific writer, González began to recognize his calling while completing his Bachelor of Science degree program in Business Communication at Bryant. But he wasn’t always what people expected of an English teacher, he says. “People don’t expect a guy named González to be in the English department.”

But persisting through challenge was already second nature to him; as a young immigrant, he’d had to endure bullying and overcome a language barrier.

“Maybe because my family had to come from so far away, and we had come through so much,” he says, “I wasn’t about to be pushed back. And I still won’t.”

And that was his message to his high school alma mater when he was invited back as a commencement speaker. “Sometimes those negative experiences are what make us stronger. And if your family struggled, you have even more to be proud of.”

“It’s gratifying to see students learn not only through their minds, but through their hearts. When that happens, there’s more potential for them to pass it forward in a meaningful way.”

González, whose biography includes a litany of awards, honors, and recognitions, served as a Fulbright Scholar in 2012, teaching in Barcelona. He is the editor and founder of Latinostories.com, which focuses on Latino literature and provides scholarly resources and recommendations for books by and about Latinos.

What inspires him as a teacher? “In my discipline, ultimately, the subject is people. It’s human nature – our essence. It’s gratifying to see students learn not only through their minds, but through their hearts. When that happens, there’s more potential for them to pass it forward in a meaningful way.”

González earned a Master of Arts in Teaching in English at Brown University before going on to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island. He then served in several English teaching positions before arriving at the Coast Guard Academy, where he has taught since 1999.

Among his many achievements, he is the author of International Book Award Finalist “Toys Made of Rock;” and “When Love Was Reels,” both books of poetry. An international speaker, he has delivered numerous talks and readings and has been featured as a guest on several radio and television programs in the U.S. and abroad. His work has been published in many prestigious literary journals. He also received the Poet of the Year Award presented by the New England Association of Teachers of English.

Gonzalez authored the poetry collections, Toys Made of Rock (Bilingual Review Press, 2015), and When Love Was Reels (Arte Public Press, 2017), and with John S. Christie, served as Co-Editor of Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature. He was born in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1967, where he lived until he was eight. After his father and then his mother migrated to the U.S., he rejoined his family when he migrated to New London, Connecticut in 1976.

He has appeared as a guest poet on Univision and American Latino TV and has been a contributor to Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education and National Public Radio (NPR).

His poetry has been published in Quercus Review, Callaloo, The Teacher's Voice, Palabra, Acentos Review, and Colere, and anthologies including Coloring Book, Nantucket: A Collection, and Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature, and Ocho.

He is the recipient of the following awards:

2003 National Association of Multicultural Education CT Faculty of the Year; 2006 NEATE Poet of the Year; 2009 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Outstanding Latino Faculty of the Year; 2011-2012 Fulbright Scholar; 2015 Latino De Oro (Arts and Culture); 2015 International Latino Book Award Finalist; 2018 Connecticut Book Award Finalist (Poetry) for When Love Was Reels; 2019 Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Artistic Excellence Fellowship.

Source: https://www.bryant.edu/jose-b-gonzalez-89-phd-learning-through-heart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_B._Gonzalez