Nicki Gonzales is an educator and historian. She is an associate professor of history at Regis University, and was the Colorado State Historian in 2021-2022. She was the first Latino person in this role.

Nicki Gonzales was born and raised in Denver, and her family comes from southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.^[1] Her family was part of the coal mining and agricultural communities in southern Colorado, until her grandparents moved to Denver for economic opportunity during World War II.^[2] Her grandfather was an active union member in the meat packing industry.^[3] She identifies as Mexican-American and Chicana.^[4]

Gonzales graduated from Yale University with a BA in English literature in 1992. She earned her PhD in American History from University of Colorado Boulder in 1997.^[2] While at CU Boulder, she was one of the researchers who built the case for the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant lawsuits. Additionally, she developed a research interest into Mexican-American and Chicano Vietnam war veterans, partly because her father was a Marine during the war.^[5]

Gonzales is a professor of history and vice provost for diversity and inclusion at Regis University.^[6]

She is a member of the State Historian's Council.^[6] She served as an advisor for several History Colorado exhibits, including El Movimiento: The Chicano Movement in Colorado and Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects.^[7] She was appointed in 2020 by Governor Jared Polis as vice chair of the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board.^[6] She also served on Mayor Michael Hancock's advisory panel for renaming public landmarks.^[8]

In 2021, she was named Colorado State Historian by the State Historian's Council.^[6] One of her goals was to create "a more inclusive, broader history of our state."^[1]

Gonzales was a major contributor to Denver's first Latino/Chicano Historic Context study.^[9] Her research expertise is in Chicano history and Southwest social and political movements, including the experiences of Chicano/Latino Vietnam veterans.^[1]

Gonzales has two sons, Danny and Teddy.

• Gonzales, Nicki. “‘Yo Soy Loco Por Esa Sierra’: The History of Land Rights Activism in San Luis Colorado, 1863-2002.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2007.

• 2021, Trailblazer Award from Latinas First Foundation^[10]