KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Board of Trustees of Kalamazoo College today announced the selection of Jorge G. Gonzalez as the 18th president of the college.

Gonzalez is the vice president for academic affairs and dean of Occidental College in Los Angeles. He succeeds Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, who has served as K-College's president since 2006. She announced her plans to retire in April. Her last day at K will be June 30. Gonzalez will begin his new duties as K's president on July 1.

The announcement was made this morning at Stetson Chapel before an all-campus gathering.

"I feel my life has been a preparation for this incredible opportunity to advance the liberal arts and the K-Plan," Gonzalez said in a press statement. "Kalamazoo College's mission is a perfect match with my deeply held belief in the learning values and the life values of experiential education and international education."

As a professor and as an administrator--both at Trinity University, where he worked from 1989 to 2010, and at Occidental College--he has created innovative programs combining liberal arts academics and experiential applications that cross borders and cultures.

Gonzalez won Trinity University's most prestigious teaching award. He is widely published and a frequent contributor at professional and academic conferences. His research interests include international economics, political economy and development.

Occidental has about 2,100 students with 169 faculty members. Kalamazoo College has about 1,400 students and about 102 full-time faculty members.

"The board's vote was unanimous, and our excitement boundless," said Board of Trustees Chair Charlotte Hall, who led the presidential search committee. "Dr. Gonzalez is a passionate champion of the liberal arts and has an abiding commitment to the values embodied in the K-Plan: academic excellence, experiential learning, intercultural understanding and community engagement. Through all of his work, he has sought to make that powerful combination better and more accessible to diverse groups of students."

Gonzalez grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, and earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the Monterrey Institute of Technology. During his junior year he studied abroad at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, an experience, he said, "that changed my life." He earned his masters and doctorate in economics from Michigan State University in 1986 and 1989, respectively.

Gonzalez is married to Suzie (Martin) Gonzalez, a 1983 Kalamazoo College graduate. They have two children. Their daughter Kristina, recently graduated from the University of Southern California with a major in international relations and is now working in commercial real estate in Los Angeles, and their son Carlos is a sophomore at Rice University majoring in computer science.