Rate My Professor Rhonda Gonzales

Rhonda Gonzales is a professor of history whose academic career spans significant leadership roles and contributions to student success initiatives. She earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. She began her academic career at Macalester College in Minnesota before joining the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in 2004 as a faculty member in the Department of History. At UTSA, she advanced to Chair of the History Department and held key administrative positions, including Interim Dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts in 2019, Interim Vice President for Student Success, Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives, and Director of the PIVOT for Academic Success initiative. She co-founded the Women’s Professional Advancement and Synergy Academy and played a pivotal role in developing UTSA's first-generation student program. As Founding Co-Principal Investigator for the Democratizing Racial Justice (DRJ) project, she continues to collaborate on efforts to build just futures.

Gonzales' research specializations include African and African Diaspora history, with a focus on East Africa and the early Atlantic slave trade to Mexico. Her major publication is Societies, Religion, and History: Central-East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 B.C.E. to 1800 C.E., published by Columbia University Press in 2009 as part of the American Historical Association's Gutenberg-e project. She has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on grants totaling more than $11 million to support student success, research, and justice initiatives. Her honors include a fellowship from the American Council on Education, membership in the UT System Chancellor’s Network for Women’s Leadership, and participation in the HACU Leadership Academy. An advocate for the advancement of women and staff professionals, particularly women of color in the history profession, Gonzales demonstrates substantial impact through her administrative leadership, grant-funded projects, and commitment to equity in higher education. Currently, she is Professor of History at the University of Denver, where she served as Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences from 2021 to 2024.