Mr. Gumecindo Salas is currently Vice President of Governmental Relations for the Hispanic Association for College and Universities (HACU). Prior to his joining HACU Gumecindo was employed by Michigan State University as a Professor of Urban Studies and Integrative Studies of Social Science. Prior to his teaching position at MSU he served as director of Minority Programs. He taught for the Detroit Public Schools and later for Wayne State University where he helped establish a Chicano Boricua Studies program and served as its director for three years, prior to coming to being hired by Michigan State University. Following graduation from college he worked one year in Cartagena, Colombia for the United States Information Agency. He earned a Bachelors and Masters degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. His Ph.D. was earned from the University of Michigan in Sociology and Higher Education. He has also attended educational seminars at George Washington University and Harvard University.

Mr. Salas has served as a consultant on multicultural education, migrant education, and parental involvement in education for the state departments of Colorado, Texas, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan. His research expertise is in the areas of multicultural and diversity in education and the workplace. Other research areas involve charter schools and their impact on minority populations and voting patterns of Hispanics in the United States. General presentations to national associations and professional groups include; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Detroit Leadership Development Program, Texas Education Agency, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Education Association, Madonna University Convocation, Speaker.

Mr. Salas served as an elected member of the Michigan State Board of Education for two terms and served on the Saginaw Valley State University Board of Trustees and on the Governors Commission for the Improvement of Higher Education in Michigan.