Gumecindo Salas was born, raised and educated in the Detroit, Michigan area. After earning a Bachelors and Masters degree from Wayne State University, he earned a PhD from the University of Michigan in Continuing and Higher Education. Following graduation, he worked one year in Cartagena, Colombia for the United States Information Agency. He taught for the Detroit Public Schools and later for Wayne State University, where he helped establish a Chicano Boricua Studies program and served as its director for three years prior to joining Michigan State University (MSU) as director of Minority Programs. At MSU, Dr. Salas was also a professor of Urban Studies and Integrative Studies in the College of Social Science. Upon his retirement from MSU in 2000 he became the Vice President of Governmental Relations for the Hispanic Association for College and Universities as well as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Northern Virginia Community College. Dr. Salas served as an elected member of the Michigan State Board of Education for two terms and served on the Saginaw Valley State University Board of Trustees and on the Governor's Commission for the Improvement of Higher Education in Michigan. His publications include themes on Latino political behavior, race and diversity, charter schools and minority populations nationally and the Latino community in Michigan and Detroit. Dr. Salas has served as a consultant on multicultural education, migrant education, and parental involvement in education for the state departments of Colorado, Texas, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan. His research expertise is in the areas of multiculturalism and diversity in education and the workplace.