Michael is an Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Grand Valley State University. He has been teaching for over 30 years, including ESL, Spanish, and Yucatec Maya. Michael holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics with a focus on Second Language Acquisition from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His teaching, research, and scholarly interests include world language teacher preparation, second language proficiency, and Spanish language and linguistics. When study abroad came to a complete halt in 2020 due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, he helped to expand opportunities for students to participate in Virtual Exchange in eight different languages via collaborations between GVSU faculty and students, and GVSU’s international partners around the world.

Michael has served on the Michigan Department of Education Seal of Biliteracy Council since 2018. Through his on-going work with the MDE and at GVSU, Michael continues to seek opportunities for holders of the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy to receive recognition in employment and higher education for the skills they have developed.

Michael has presented at MIWLA with several undergraduate students pursuing world language teaching licensure as well as colleagues from GVSU and the MDE Seal of Biliteracy Council. He served on the MIWLA Executive Board from 2016 to 2019. As President in 2019, he established a mini conference held in Traverse City to share many of the most highly rated presentations from the October conference with world language professionals in northern Michigan and others who could not attend the annual conference.