Morristown, NJ (October 17, 2020) – Growing up in a Spanish speaking household, Dr. Alex Guzmán was in English Language Learner (ELL) programs until the third grade. Guzmán's personal experience as an ELL student spurred his interest in researching this population for his dissertation.

"English Language Learners are a linguistically, culturally and educationally diverse population who face barriers on their first day of school," explains Alex, the former principal of Middlesex High School in the Borough of Middlesex. "This diversity demands schools to address their needs."

Alex intends to use knowledge attained through earning his doctorate in educational leadership at SEU to create these equitable learning environments and encourage his peers to do the same. His desire to improve educational standards stems from his mother.

"My mom was always a strong advocate for education and hard work," says Alex. "She taught me to never get comfortable and always strive to do better or learn more."

While education has become Alex's calling in life, his first love was science. In fact, he even earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and had hopes of becoming an engineer. However, growing up in a single-parent household, his family couldn't afford to send him to an engineering university.

"Continuing to higher education is difficult for low-income families. My mom, my sister, and I worked tirelessly to put me through college," says Alex, who channeled his love of science into becoming a chemistry and physics teacher. "I was the first to graduate from college, the first to earn a master's and now a doctorate."

Alex credits SEU with creating a learning environment that challenged his thinking, allowed him to find success through failure and prepared him to achieve his ambitions. In the future, Alex hopes to inspire more Latinx students to pursue science careers and teach in higher education.

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