Leadership

Montclair State University’s ninth President, is a nationally recognized scholar of policy, organization, and management with a reputation as a visionary leader in higher education emphasizing public service and solutions-oriented engagement in the community. Before taking office at Montclair State on August 2, 2021, Koppell served as Dean of Arizona State University’s (ASU) Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and vice provost for public service and social impact, leading the nation’s largest comprehensive public affairs college. He also led the College to significantly improve its student retention and graduation rates through new and innovative counseling and student-support initiatives.

Known as one of the most entrepreneurial leaders at ASU, an institution that is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most innovative universities, Koppell guided Watts College to add some 20 new degree programs, greatly expand its online offerings and global programs, launched a unique joint college in Hainan, China, and created the nation’s first Public Service Academy. National rankings skyrocketed under his leadership with numerous programs now rated in the top 10 nationally.

Koppell is a firm believer that public universities play a fundamental role in advancing society through the development of partnership with members of surrounding public and private communities. At ASU, Koppell built productive partnerships with community organizations and launched innovative programs to serve the public interest, increasing student access and success, advancing diversity among the faculty and college leadership, and greatly enhancing research expenditures and philanthropic support.

The Montclair State University Board of Trustees, currently consists of 13 voting and two non-voting members who are citizens of the State of New Jersey, appointed for six-year terms by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, who are voting members (“Public Members”); two undergraduate students: one voting, one non-voting and the President, non-voting.

Public Members of the Board of Trustees whose terms have expired continue to serve on the Board until their successors are appointed and qualified. The term of student trustees is two years, the first as a non-voting member, and the second as a voting member.

As Montclair State University’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Junius J. Gonzales, M.D., M.B.A., is designated the second highest ranking university official and leads the university’s academic programs for teaching, research, scholarship and creative inquiry and service in ten schools and colleges, and is responsible for academic planning, new initiatives in teaching and learning, faculty and academic staff development, and the libraries. He also oversees institutional assessment and accreditation, office of research, and student success efforts through University College, academic student services, and special student programs such as Upward Bound and EOF. He served as New York Institute of Technology’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs from 2018-2022. Dr. Gonzales is an avid champion of student success and an enthusiastic leader of innovative recent programs that can reduce equity gaps for student achievement. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. Recent examples include NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 2021 Educational Excellence Award, One of the NY State’s Responsible 100, Diversity in Business Award, and Nassau County’s Hispanic Education Advocate of the Year He is currently on the board of directors for the national Association of Chief Academic Officers.

Gonzales has held high-level leadership roles in academia, federal government, and the private sector. He served as chief academic officer and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the 17-campus University of North Carolina System from January 2015 through May 2018 and was interim president of the system from January to March 2016. As the UNC System’s top academic officer, he was responsible for overseeing academic planning and budgeting, student affairs, sponsored research, faculty support, licensure and institutional research, and community engagement. For four years, he served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)—one of the nation’s most recognized Hispanic Serving Institutions (now R1)— and led the institution to receive several national awards. He was the founding dean of the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences and executive director of the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida (USF). Before that, his deep and broad experiences were cultivated in different settings: academia (Georgetown University, USF, and UTEP), the federal government (National Institutes of Health), and the private sector.

Gonzales has performed national service with recent appointments on the VA Special Medical Advisory Group, a National Academies STEM Work Group, and on federal agency councils (e.g., SAMHSA, AHRQ). He has received significant research funding over $15 million as PI or co-PI from federal agencies (e.g., NIH, CDC, AHRQ, DoEd) and private foundations. He has published in the areas of health disparities, mental health, research infrastructure, community partnered participatory research, and non-cognitive factors in undergraduate students. He holds an A.B. from Brown University, an M.D. with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Maryland. He completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health.