Dr. Luis González Vale is the latest in a long line of historians who have held the post of Official Historian of Puerto Rico

Official Historian of Puerto Rico

Pursuant to a law approved in 1903, "An Act for the Approval and Conservation of Certain Historical Data of Puerto Rico", the Puerto Rico Legislature created the Office of the Official Historian of Puerto Rico. The historians who held the position during the early decades of the 20th century...

, having succeeded Dr. Pilar Barbosa

Pilar Barbosa

Dr. Pilar Barbosa de Rosario was an educator, historian and political activist.-Early years:Barbosa born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, was one of twelve children of Jose Celso Barbosa, also known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Statehood Movement". Her father was a member of the Puerto Rican Senate...

 in the post.

Dr. González Vale, a military historian, served as Adjutant General

Adjutant general

An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...

 of the Puerto Rico National Guard

Puerto Rico National Guard

The Puerto Rico National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components with a total authorized strength of 10,000 soldiers and airmen. The Constitution of the United States specifically...

 and as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico

University of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...

, where he also held administrative posts in the 1990s. As Adjutant General, Dr. González Vale bid farewell to His Holiness John Paul II as the pontiff departed PRANG Muñiz Base, Puerto Rico on October 12, 1984. Along with Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Luis Aponte Martínez

Luis Aponte Martínez

Luis Aponte Martínez is the only Puerto Rican ever to be consecrated a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and for 34 years was the Archbishop of San Juan. Cardinal Aponte was a cardinal elector in the two conclaves of 1978....

, he was the keynote speaker at a State Department of Puerto Rico 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

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

.

He currently chairs the Quincentennial of the Governorship of Puerto Rico Committee which has restored the Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...

 monument in Old San Juan, and will hold an event on January 21, 2011 at Santervás del Campo, Spain, the birthplace of Puerto Rico's first Governor.

Sources

www.oslpr.org