Junius J. Gonzales was appointed vice chancellor for Academic Affairs in July 2025. In this role, he serves as the chief academic officer for the CSU system and provides comprehensive operational leadership, strategy, compliance, oversight and direction for the Academic Affairs divisions across the system's universities. He serves as a key policy advisor to the chancellor and as a vital partner to campus presidents, faculty, staff and other leaders throughout the system.

Gonzales' career spans more than three decades, the majority of which have been in academia. Prior to joining the Chancellor's Office, he led academic affairs divisions at nationally recognized institutions. He also held the role of provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Montclair State University (MSU) in New Jersey, a Hispanic Serving Institution recognized for social mobility. He also served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at New York Institute of Technology; senior vice president for Academic Affairs for the University of North Carolina (UNC) system, where he also served as interim president; and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Earlier in his academic career, Gonzales was the founding dean of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences and executive director of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida (USF). Widely respected for his extensive and impactful research and scholarship, he has held research and teaching positions at UNC, UTEP, USF, George Washington University and Georgetown University.

A psychiatrist by training, Gonzales has also held high-level leadership positions in the federal government and the private sector. He has served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health's Division of Services and Interventional Research, and as a principal and scientist in the Health Division of Abt Associates (now Abt Global), a top global research firm.

A first-generation college student, Gonzales earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University, his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and his MBA from Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He completed his medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health.​