José Melendrez, interim vice president of diversity initiatives and chief diversity officer, has in-depth experience in diversity, equity, and multicultural programming, community organizing, and use of community-based participatory research. He is also experienced in social justice education and advocacy as it pertains to equity initiatives for diverse populations.

Melendrez is the former executive director for the office of Community Partnerships in the School of Public Health, and was responsible for coordinating and building partnerships that support student and faculty initiatives. He worked with community-based organizations and public health agencies to support internships, research and educational programming. Melendrez coordinated recruitment strategies to increase the diversity of students in the School of Public Health. Melendrez is a founding member and chair for the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition.