Felix Matos Rodriguez
Photo courtesy Queens College
There is a new president at the helm in Queens College.
The City University of New York’s board of trustees tapped Dr. Felix V. Matos Rodriguez to serve as the borough college’s president, replacing James Muyskens, who was appointed on an interim basis on Jan. 1. The Ivy League-educated teacher and former cabinet secretary of the Department of Family Services for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was selected after a national search and brings leadership and educational experience to the storied borough school.
“Felx V. Matos Rodriguez has served as a college president and held senior leadership positions in higher education and government, as well as serving as a faculty member and institute director at Hunter College,” said James Milliken, chancellor of the City University of New York. “He brings to Queens College an impressive blend of scholarly accomplishment, public service, a strong commitment to student success and a deep belief in the university’s educational mission.”
Matos Rodriguez graduated cum laude in Latin American studies from Yale University and received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He has teaching experience at prestigious schools, including Yale, Northeastern University, Boston College and the Universidad Interamericana-Recinto Metro in Puerto Rico.
“In the spirit of Queens College’s motto — ‘We learn so that we may serve’ — I pledge to put all the experience and learning of my scholarly, administrative and public service career at the service of an institution that has, and will continue to serve, Queens, New York City, and the nation with the highest standards of excellence and dedication,” Matos Rodriguez said.
President Matos Rodriguez received the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association and has work published in such peer-reviewed journals as the Journal of Urban History, the Public Historian, Latin American Research Review, Centro Journal, Revistade Ciencias Sociales, and the Boletín de la Asociación de Demografía Histórica, in addition to having chapters in several anthologies. He was also the founding editor of the series New Directions in Puerto Rican Studies, published by the University Press of Florida.
By The Forum staff
