José Luis Gómez Martínez (born June 1, 1943) is a professor emeritus of Spanish at the University of Georgia. Essayist and literary critic, his research into the theory of the essay, along with his work on Hispanic thought and Latin American fiction helped push literary boundaries and open up new lines of thinking within and outside of academia. During his professional career José Luis Gómez won several awards for his scholarly contributions, including the prestigious Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1984–1985), the Albert Christ-Janer Award (1988), named Professor of the Year by the AATSP-GA (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Georgia Chapter, 1999), the 1989 Sturgis Leavitt Prize. In 2000 he was elected Membro Correspondente da (Acceptance Speech 2005).