Michael R. Gonzalez
Jack Miller Center Founding Civics Initiative Faculty
Senior Associate Director of the Institute for Constitutional Thought and Leadership, University of Toledo
Michael Gonzalez is the Senior Associate Director and Assistant Professor of Politics in the Institute for Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo. There he leads the development of new undergraduate programs and curricular offerings, builds strategic partnerships, and oversees the expansion of the Institute’s teacher professional development programs for teaching America’s founding principles. His research focuses on the reception of early modern political philosophy in the American founding, especially in the thought of Thomas Jefferson and his undergraduate teaching includes seminars on statesmanship, rhetoric, and the political implications of modern science. His work has appeared in American Political Thought, Interpretation, and National Affairs, among others. He also serves as co-editor for The Political Writings of John Quincy Adams (forthcoming from Cambridge University Press).
Through collaborations with the Jack Miller Center, the National Constitution Center, and other partners, Dr. Gonzalez and his team have built multiple programs for teachers within a short period, including two weeklong summer programs (one with generous support from the Department of Education), a monthly teaching workshop series, a pre-service teacher program, and other offerings to serve teachers in the State of Ohio and from across the upper Midwest.
Dr. Gonzalez was a Thomas W. Smith Postdoctoral Research Associate with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and Department of Political Science Lecturer at Princeton University from 2023 to 2024. He received the “Top 20 Under 30” distinguished alumni award from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in 2025 and holds fellowships with the Jack Miller Center and the Institute for Humane Studies. He received his bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Humanities from The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Baylor University.
Research interest:
Enlightenment Political Philosophy
Political Thought of Thomas Jefferson
Early Modern Receptions to Classical and Medieval Philosophy
