Juan R. Olivarez is president of Michigan's Grand Rapids Community College and is involved in a wide variety of adult literacy projects. As president of the Michigan Campus Contact program, Dr. Olivarez oversees initiatives designed to heighten civic responsibility through volunteerism, including work in the community to foster literacy. He is also spearheading an initiative to create learning centers for adults in economically disadvantaged areas. The learning centers focus not only on writing and reading literacy, but also on technology and life skills literacy. Dr. Olivarez serves as a board member for the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, working to launch education reform with a policy focus on preventing adult illiteracy.

Dr. Olivarez received a bachelor's degree from Aquinas College, a master's degree in education from Wayne State University, and a doctorate in family and child ecology from Michigan State University.