Juan Marinez graduated from Michigan State University and was one of the first Chicano students enrolled. Marinez joined MSU Extension in 1973 as a program leader in special programs. He developed this collection in his role as an MSU Extension program director. He also served as a regional Extension supervisor for MSU Extension. From 1999 to 2002, he worked for Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman as the national program coordinator on farm workers secured $20 million for farm workers who had been negatively affected by natural disasters, the first-ever available funds to go to farm worker assistance during a natural disaster. Marinez also served as an assistant to the director where he was responsible for establishing a nationwide network of community-based, nonprofit organizations serving migrant/seasonal farm workers living in low-income situations. He established the first Hispanic farmer’s cooperative in Michigan. His research work on enumerating Hispanic farmers has had a positive impact on the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistical Service census. Marinez established the short lived oral history project, Mexican Voices, Michigan Lives.