Sergio Gonzalez, an author and doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is earnest, intense and seems destined to lead.
At 30, Gonzalez is completing his Ph.D. in history with a focus on labor, immigration and working-class history. In November, he was honored by Centro Hispano of Dane County with an award recognizing the person whose efforts strengthen the collective voice of Latinos in the community.
He is the author of Mexicans in Wisconsin, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, a book that counters stereotypes about Mexican immigration. In painstaking detail, he describes the perseverance of Mexicans who came to the state much earlier and with more varied backgrounds than most probably think.