Luis González Vales

Luis E. González Vales (born 1930 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico) is the latest of many historians who have held the post of Official Historian of Puerto Rico, having succeeded Pilar Barbosa in the post.

Graduate of Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in history from the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. González Vales obtained his master's degree from the Columbia University of New York, where he also carried out doctoral courses. He was Professor of history of the University of Puerto Rico and Associate Dean of the Faculty of General Studies of the Rio Piedras campus from the University of Puerto Rico. He held the position of Executive Secretary of the Board of higher education, and he was appointed by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and the Governor as official historian of Puerto Rico.

González Vale, a military historian, started his military career on May 31, 1951 as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve, on March 10, 1952 went to active duty in the United States Army with the 296 regiment and later on to Germany assigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment. Joined the Puerto Rico National Guard in 1955, went to the New York National Guard in 1963. Returned to the Puerto Rico National Guard on September 1964. Served as Puerto Rico Adjutant General and as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, where he also held administrative posts in the 1990s. As Adjutant General, González Vale bade farewell to Pope John Paul II as he departed Muñiz Air National Guard Base, Puerto Rico on October 12, 1984. Along with Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, he was the keynote speaker at a Puerto Rico Department of State exhibition in March–April 2009 of memorabilia of the Pope's visit to Puerto Rico.

He hosted a major international convention of historians in April, 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He chaired the Quincentennial of the Governorship of Puerto Rico Committee which restored the Juan Ponce de León monument in Old San Juan, held an event on January 21, 2011 at Santervás del Campo, Spain, the birthplace of Puerto Rico's first Governor, where a similar monument was unveiled, and organized several other academic events to commemorate the institution of the Governorship of Puerto Rico.