I am really flattered to join Austin University’s faculty body and meet with great people all around the world with diverse and fabulous backgrounds. It is an honor to be here. I know we will share great experiences.

I was born in the beautiful country of Venezuela. My hometown, Ciudad Bolívar (Bolivar City) is located on the banks of the Orinoco River. In this state is also located the Angel Falls. This city is the hometown of Jesus Soto, a sculptor and painter, most famous for his op art and kinetic artworks, and Ruben Limardo-Gascon, fencing Gold Olympia.

I graduated as a Venezuelan Commissioned Army Officer in 1980 and worked in the Venezuelan  Army (the same one that Simón Bolívar commanded) for about 5 years until a war injury took me out of my career. I suffered multiple fractures of my left tibia and fibula because of a hand grenade explosion in combat with the Colombian guerrillas. After 18 months of convalescence, I received an honorable discharge and decided that it was time to go for another career.
I decided to study Law and enrolled at Santa Maria University, Caracas, Venezuela to pursue my LLB.

Meanwhile, I started working as a Pre-need Funeral Plans Sales Agent in Prefasa. I elected this industry because nobody wanted to work with it, especially at this company, because it was the least productive in the growing Pre-need Industry. With my experience as a commanding officer and being accustomed to solving the most extreme and dangerous situations, I saw my opportunity to enter into the Corporate environment with a great chance of success. I started to create this company to be the best in the country. Three weeks after I started, I was named supervisor and 4 months later, with a plan to increase the sales and profits, I was appointed as the Executive Vice-president and COO.

While in this position, I acquired my LLB in 1990 and had a professional practice with my wife until 1995, when I left my country because I was being persecuted for political reasons. We applied for Political Asylum in the US, and it was granted. Now, twenty years later, we are U.S Citizens. I started to work in Boston, MA as a Real Estate Agent and, because of my limited English, I was assigned to work only with the Hispanic population while I took English courses at Harvard
University.

Once I attained the necessary basic commands of English, I entered the Business and Management Consulting environment doing what I was well prepared for and liked to do: Recovering companies in bad shape and helping people, not only to keep their jobs but also to enhance their business and, consequently, be more productive in a diverse cultural workplace. In 2004, this consulting company closed its doors and went out of business.

With my dual MBA degree in Global Technology and Human Resources Management from American Intercontinental University, I decided to enter the education profession as a Teacher in Faculty Profile – Gabriel Vallee-Leon Page 2 of 2 the Elizabeth Public School system in NJ. The same year, I also became part of the Faculty of Fairleigh Dickinson University in NJ, where I am teaching Business, Management, and Technology courses along with a course of special interest for me: Principles and Processes of Adult Learning. In addition, I developed the Curriculum and textbook for this Hispanic Learner Success Involvement course.

I am married and the proud father of three children (and one cute little dog), Gabriel (36), Rubí (30), and Alan (26). (My dog, Scooby, is 15 years old) (And also have 4 grandchildren).

At this moment I am enrolled at Grand Canyon University in order to pursue my Doctor in Business Administration Degree (expected to be completed by June 2019). In terms of work, I am running a small operation in Management Consulting providing services for different corporations worldwide, mostly in the areas of Strategic Management, IT, Global Business, Venture Capital, Business and Commercial Loans, Insurance, Financial Advising, SEO with robots powered by AI,
and, Diversity and I am heavily involved with my community, working in political campaigns as well as educating the Tri-State Area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) Hispanic population in how to start and manage their own businesses and IT related courses.

I enjoy going to opera and I am a big fan of “The 3 Tenors” but I enjoy all kind of music and performances. My favorites are Kenny G, Andrea Bocelli, Enya, André Rieu, Frank Pourcel, Celine Dion, Ray Conniff, Yanni, “The Voice”, Juan Luis Guerra, and, of course, my Venezuelan music, that includes one its best representatives, Simon Diaz and Serenata Guayanesa.

When younger, I was engaged in the practice of fencing. I began in this sport at the age of eight and my weapon is Sabre (or Saber in American English). I was involved in several international tournaments. Now, I am doing fencing occasionally. Enjoy your classes and appointments!