NJCU Appoints Dr. Will Guzmán Director of Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center

Dr. Will Guzmán, a scholar of African/African American history and culture, is the newly appointed Director of the Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center at New Jersey City University.

NJCU’s Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center promotes academic excellence and social responsibility among faculty, students and surrounding community about issues necessary to the empowerment of peoples across the African Diaspora. The Center presents challenging and stimulating workshops, speakers, research, conferences; seminars, exhibitions and performances that help develop and support cultural, political, educational, and economic growth for the community.

Dr. Guzmán came to NJCU in January 2017 from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) where he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and African American Studies.

As an administrator, Dr. Guzmán previously served as Director of the Office of Black Diasporan Culture at Florida A&M University, and as the Associate Director of the Meek-Eaton Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum.

Dr. Guzmán also worked as the site manager, program manager, and senior training manager for the Florida ABOUT FACE! Program for which he planned, developed, and oversaw a $2.5 million state-issued contract and supervised 85 employees at 27 sites statewide.

He has extensive professional and community networking links in the Jersey City community and across New Jersey.

Dr. Guzmán holds a Bachelor of Science degree in African American Studies from FAMU, a Master of Science in Social Science Education from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. with a focus on Borderlands History, U.S. History, and the African Diaspora from the University of Texas—El Paso.

His book, "Civil Rights in the Texas Borderlands: Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon and Black Activism" (University of Illinois Press, 2015) won the C. Calvin Smith Book Prize. Dr. Guzmán has published work in peer-reviewed journals and public history publications on various areas of African/African American history and culture.

Among Dr. Guzmán’s research interests are African American history, Afro-Latinas/Latinos history, Caribbean and Latin American history, and United States history.

He is a member of the National Council for Black Studies, the West African Research Association, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Southern Conference on African American Studies.