Dr. Juan Armando Rojas

Dr. Juan Armando Rojas has been named campus diversity officer at Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College.

Rojas joins BSU and NTC from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where he served as chief diversity officer since 2018, a new position to the university. In this role, Rojas oversaw the implementation of OWU’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy and served as a resource for educational, facilities, and human resources-related issues.

Prior to his appointment as CDO at OWU, Rojas served as a professor of modern foreign languages and served as associate dean of diversity and inclusion at the same institution.

“We are fortunate to find someone with Dr. Rojas’s background and experience joining us in this crucial position,” President Faith C. Hensrud said in a release.

At Bemidji State and Northwest Tech, Rojas succeeds Dr. Debra Peterson, professor of sociology and communication studies, who served in an interim role as the campus diversity officer from 2016 until June 2020 before returning to her position on the BSU faculty.

Rojas earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso and his doctorate from the University of Arizona. His appointment will begin on November 9.

By — Betsy Melin