Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez has served as the eighth Chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY) since May 2019, focusing his tenure on championing student equity across the University system. Chancellor Matos Rodríguez, whose historic appointment makes him the first educator of color and the first Latino to lead the nation’s largest urban university, oversees a system of 25 colleges with an enrollment of over 225,000 students and an operating budget of $3.8 billion.
In the Media
Community colleges hold keys to the city’s success (am New York, March 29, 2024)
Communications
Recognition
Foreign Policy Association Medal (Foreign Policy Association, June 8, 2023)
The 2023 Albany Power 100 (City & State New York, May 30, 2023)
The 2023 Higher Education Power 100 (City & State New York, March 13, 2023)
The 2023 NYC Power 100 (City & State New York, Feb. 13, 2023)
2022 Power Players in Education (PoliticsNY, Oct. 6, 2022)
The 2022 Power of Diversity: Latino 100 (City & State New York, Sept. 12, 2022)
Social Media
As Chancellor, Dr. Matos Rodríguez has doubled down on the University’s commitment to lifting students and graduates from all backgrounds up the socioeconomic ladder. This mission has been especially critical throughout the coronavirus pandemic, during which the Chancellor erased more than $100 million in owed tuition and fees for more than 57,000 students through the CUNY Comeback program, announced a year before President Biden’s federal debt forgiveness program. The Chancellor also led the University to formally discontinue its policy of withholding transcripts from current and former students with unpaid balances.
To support students facing financial hardship amid the pandemic, the University announced the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund in April 2020. As of the summer of 2022, the fund had disbursed almost $10 million to support more than 17,500 students in need, including single parents, undocumented students who were originally excluded from federal government relief programs, international students, students with disabilities and students from foster care.
Dr. Matos Rodríguez is a dedicated champion of accessibility, inclusion and excellence in higher education. He built a diverse team of tested leaders to serve on his cabinet, and as administrators, including leaders who are the first Asian American, the first Dominican woman and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as presidents or deans of CUNY colleges.
Responding to the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Dr. Matos Rodríguez oversaw within a week the transition of nearly all of CUNY’s 50,000 course sections to distance education. To ensure the success of CUNY students who lacked the resources to participate in distance modalities, the University quickly purchased thousands of laptops and tablets to distribute to those who needed them for remote learning.
Chancellor Matos Rodríguez has developed and advocated for career pipelines for students and graduates through a series of public-private partnerships with some of New York’s largest employers including the New York Jobs CEO Council, a coalition of CEOs from 28 of the city’s largest employers, aiming to provide job opportunities and apprenticeships for 25,000 CUNY students by 2030. Additional efforts include training students for financial careers through CUNY Futures in Finance, placing students in public sector and nonprofit jobs over the summer via CUNY Career Launch and providing in-demand skills training through CUNY Upskilling.
In keeping with his ambition to grow access for traditionally underrepresented firms to CUNY, he unveiled a comprehensive plan to bolster business opportunities for firms owned by women, minorities and service-disabled veterans.
Chancellor Matos Rodríguez’s distinguished career spans both academia and the public sector: He is a scholar, teacher, administrator and former cabinet secretary for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, Dr. Matos Rodríguez was president of CUNY’s Queens College from 2014 to 2019 and of CUNY’s Eugenio María de Hostos Community College in the Bronx from 2009 to 2014, making him one of a select few U.S. educators who has led both a baccalaureate and a community college.
Dr. Matos Rodríguez has used his extensive regional and national networks and board memberships to advance the visibility and recognition of CUNY. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Chancellor was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023. He serves as co-chair of the New York City Future of Workers Task Force by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, having also served as a co-chair of Adams’ mayoral transition team. In 2023, the Chancellor was elected to serve as vice chair of the American Council of Education’s (ACE) board of directors, following two previous terms on the board; in 2020, he was named to ACE’s national task force focused on improving transfer of credit practices.
A former chair of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), he continues to serve on the steering committee for HACU’s Leadership Academy. In 2021, he joined the board of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) and was named co-chair of the New York City Regional Economic Development Council (NYCREDC). He also serves on the boards of Phipps Houses and the United Way of New York City, and he is a member of the Research Alliance for New York City Schools steering committee.
A cum laude graduate in Latin American studies from Yale University, Matos Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He has taught at Yale, Northeastern University, Boston College, the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, City College and Hunter College, and was affiliated with the history department at the CUNY Graduate Center. At Hunter, he also directed the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, one of the largest and most important Latino research centers in the United States. Read More
Highlights
March 2023
The University announces a two-month waiver of the $65 application fee for all graduating New York City public high school seniors to expand access to higher education. The Governor announces two programs to provide paid experiences for current students: one providing $2 million to pay for community college students to participate in apprenticeships, and another funding $4 million of paid internships for 600 students.
February 2023
Chancellor Matos Rodríguez launches “Café con Felo,” a new program on CUNY TV in which he engages New York’s leaders on the University’s unmatched role as an engine of opportunity. The Chancellor distributes $750,000 across the system to fund programming that combats hatred and bigotry, including antisemitism, as the University launches an online portal to report such acts. He tours the Flatbush African Burial Grounds alongside student-interns who are participating in the program as one of 126 projects funded under CUNY’s Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI).
January 2023
CUNY kicks off the Spring 2023 semester by welcoming back 14,000 students who re-enrolled through CUNY Reconnect, exceeding its goal of re-enrolling 10,000 students through the program, which engages students who withdrew from college before they earned a degree. The University phases out traditional remedial courses, completing the long-planned transition to corequisite support in which first-year students receive needed academic support as they take for-credit courses.
December 2022
As the University looks back on 2022 and makes plans to move forward in 2023, the Chancellor welcomes City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams back to York College, where she began her college career, to unveil the college’s new welcome center dedicated to re-enrolling students as part of CUNY Reconnect.
November 2022
Forming the nation’s largest partnership between higher education and K-12 to deliver computer science and digital literacy training to teachers, Chancellor Matos Rodríguez and New York City Public Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announce the Computing Integrated Teacher Education initiative to prepare more than 1,000 city teachers to enhance their students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
October 2022
The Chancellor joins Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to announce plans for the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC Kips Bay), a first-of-its-kind innovation hub for New York. This partnership with CUNY will transform Hunter College’s Brookdale campus and include state-of-the-art facilities for CUNY SPH, Hunter’s nursing and health schools, and BMCC’s health care programs. Gov. Hochul also announces $4.8 million to expand child care services at the University.
September 2022
Chancellor Matos Rodríguez outlines his vision for a University reimagined for the post-pandemic era in a major speech to the Association for a Better New York. The Chancellor introduces career success initiatives including the CUNY Inclusive Economy, CUNY Upskilling and CUNY Green Technology Workforce Programs.
August 2022
The University welcomes over 243,000 students to the 2022-23 academic year, along with 250 new full-time faculty lecturers funded by additional state financial support. Chancellor Matos Rodríguez attends a roundtable hosted by Vice President Harris discussing students’ reproductive health services following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The Chancellor joins Governor Hochul to announce the historic expansion of the state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to part-time students, launches the CUNY Reconnect initiative proposed by Council Speaker Adams to re-enroll 10,000 former college students and joins Mayor Adams’ Future of Workers Task Force as a co-chair.
July 2022
CUNY distributes more than $3 million from the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund to cover the tuition and fees for 3,500 student-parents taking courses over the summer, who can focus on pursuing their goals, such as starting a nonprofit for parents of kids with disabilities.
June 2022
The Chancellor marches in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade and the New York City Pride March alongside the CUNY community. The University expands the availability of leadership programs and internship opportunities for students in the LGBTQI+ community.
May 2022
The University returns to in-person commencement ceremonies at all 24 colleges with spring graduations for the CUNY Class of 2022, with more than 55,000 graduates celebrating. A record-breaking seven community college graduates earn the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. The Chancellor receives an honorary doctorate of humane letters from New York University.
May 2022
The Chancellor kicks off the celebration of the University’s 175th anniversary with the Empire State Building shining in CUNY blue on May 7, exactly 175 years after the Free Academy received its charter. The University launches an anniversary webpage highlighting CUNY’s history.
April 2022
The Chancellor co-hosts a roundtable discussion with members of the University’s Asian American and Pacific Islander communities alongside the CUNY Asian American and Asian Research Institute and its outgoing executive director Joyce Moy. The University receives accolades from across academia, with two Guggenheim Fellowship winners, three Soros Fellowship winners and three semifinalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
March 2022
The Chancellor celebrates a month of expanded investments in CUNY, beginning with an education partnership with Amazon to provide more than 300,000 of their workers with tuition-free access to 500 associate and bachelor’s degree programs at 8 CUNY colleges. The University launches CUNY Online, a new initiative expanding online course offerings at all 25 colleges, with an $8 million investment from federal stimulus funds.
February 2022
The Chancellor kicks off a safe return to mostly in-person classes for the spring 2022 semester with a visit to John Jay College in the first week. Throughout the semester, the Chancellor also visits Queens College, City College, Lehman College, Guttman Community College, CUNY Graduate Center, Queensborough Community College and LaGuardia Community College to greet students, faculty and staff and highlight programs at each college.
January 2022
The CUNY Board of Trustees ends the policy of withholding transcripts from students and graduates who owe the University unpaid tuition and fees, following the Chancellor’s temporary suspension of the policy in August 2021 and leading the way for Governor Hochul’s goal of ending the practice at all colleges and universities in the state.
November 2021
The Chancellor leads another record-breaking fundraising effort for CUNY, raising an incredibly generous $2.5 million on CUNY Tuesday after a call for support in an amNY op-ed and telling stories about a student leader who learned English just two years ago after immigrating from Benin in West Africa, and another who is overcoming a decade-long journey towards graduating college.
October 2021
The Chancellor celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with continued recognition of CUNY’s historic relationship with New York’s Latinx communities, as CUNY is named to a prestigious national consortium of 16 HSIs advancing opportunities for Latinx graduate students and seven CUNY colleges lead the inaugural list of Fulbright HSI Leaders.
September 2021
The Chancellor launches the DNA Learning Center NYC, a partnership between Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and CUNY hosted at New York City College of Technology. The collaboration adds 18,000 square feet of specialized labs for students’ classes, as well as for 30,000 NYC students in middle and high schools — making innovative, hands-on experience with biology and genetics accessible to all New Yorkers.
August 2021
The Chancellor welcomes the CUNY family back to campuses and offices for the fall 2021 semester, showing that you #CantStopCUNY. After more than a year of preparing new and robust safety protocols, CUNY campuses are among the safest places to be in New York City. The Chancellor also announces the suspension of a long-held practice which prevented graduates who owe unpaid tuition and fees from accessing their transcripts, and lifts financial holds for students enrolled during the pandemic.
July 2021
The Chancellor and Governor Cuomo announce the CUNY Comeback Program, forgiving up to $125 million in outstanding tuition and fee balances for at least 50,000 students, accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the nation’s largest student debt forgiveness plans of its kind, it enables students and graduates to focus on pursuing their educational and career goals.
April 2021
The Chancellor joins Queensboro FC Owner Jonathan Krane and York College President Berenecea Johnson Eanes to announce the city’s first stadium designed specifically for professional soccer, hosted at York. The stadium will host QBFC games, York College commencements, CUNY Athletic Conference events and community events for the surrounding area of Jamaica, Queens.
March 2021
The Chancellor challenges the CUNY familia to #VaxUpCUNY, getting vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. Two mass vaccination sites opened in February and operated by FEMA and New York State at Medgar Evers College and York College administer over 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines to New Yorkers in the first three weeks. A third site, run by the City, opens at The City College of New York, followed by sites at Lehman College and Queensborough Community College.
December 2020
The Chancellor continues a successful trend of fundraising for CUNY, raising a record-breaking $2 million on CUNY Tuesday. The University receives a historic $60 million in gifts from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, with $30 million each going to Lehman College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. This follows a generous $10 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund gives grants to 10,500 students.
September 2020
CUNY celebrates a month of recognition for its distinction as an engine of social mobility in college rankings. Business Insider ranks eight CUNY schools among the best for return on students’ investment, including Baruch College taking the top spot. U.S. News & World Report includes 10 CUNY schools among the top-performing public schools in the northern U.S., and the Wall Street Journal names Baruch College and City College as the top two Best-Value public colleges in the country.
August 2020
CUNY welcomes students to a largely virtual fall 2020 semester. Fewer than 2% of courses are offered in person, meeting a need for classes that are difficult to deliver remotely. The Chancellor welcomes nine newly appointed college leaders to their first full semester, including four chosen over the summer to lead York College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Queensborough Community College and LaGuardia Community College.
August 2020
Along with 27 CEOs from some of the New York area’s largest employers, the Chancellor announces the New York Jobs CEO Council. The Council aims to hire 100,000 traditionally underserved New Yorkers — including 25,000 CUNY students — by 2030. In collaboration with CUNY and the Council, the EverUp Micro-Credential program begins in December 2020.
“The ground beneath us may shift, but our commitment to the equity, inclusion and excellence needed to sustain New York City’s standing as a world-class city will never, ever waver.”
June 2020
CUNY celebrates the class of 2020 with a special virtual commencement for the uniquely resilient graduates. The Chancellor joins college presidents and deans, elected officials and guest stars to cheer on these students, earning a near-record 56,000 degrees. CUNY students are paid to serve as coaches to the 57,000 graduates of New York City’s public high schools, ensuring they make a successful transition to college.
April 2020
CUNY announces the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund to provide urgent aid to CUNY students who are facing financial hardship amid the COVID-19 crisis. The fund, launched with $3.25 million in initial donations, is distributing grants of $500 each to thousands of CUNY students, regardless of their immigration and citizenship status.
March 2020
To protect the health and safety of students, faculty and staff in the face of COVID-19, the Chancellor moves the country’s largest urban public university to distance learning and distance working. The massive undertaking transitioned all 25 campuses, 275,000 students and 20,000 faculty to a new educational modality to maintain academic continuity, safeguard students’ ability to finish the semester and protect their financial aid.
February 2020
The Chancellor announces the appointment of Dr. S. David Wu as president of Baruch College. He will become the first Asian-American in history to serve as a CUNY college president. In March, the Chancellor announces more history-making appointments, naming Robin L. Garrell, Frank H. Wu, and Daisy Cocco de Filippis as the new leaders of The Graduate Center, Queens College and Hostos Community College.
December 2019
To help ensure that students have the resources they need to succeed, the Chancellor announces a partnership with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a $1 million pilot program to combat food insecurity at CUNY’s community colleges.
December 2019
The Chancellor successfully broadens the network of generous donors to the University. On the annual nationwide day of giving known locally as CUNY Tuesday, the University reaches the $1.5 million mark, surpassing the initial goal of $1 million and far outmatching proceeds of previous years.
September 2019
The Chancellor and CUNY Citizenship Now! commemorate Citizenship Day 2019 by helping a record number of more than 600 permanent residents apply for citizenship in the largest event of its kind ever held in New York City.
August 2019
The Chancellor unveils a detailed plan to bolster business opportunities for firms owned by women, minorities and service-disabled veterans in keeping with his ambition to increase the University’s engagement of traditionally underrepresented firms.
July 2019
The Chancellor broadens CUNY’s record of public service by overseeing student relief work in Puerto Rico, championing a key initiative and encouraging civic engagement. The 220 CUNY Service Corps students log more than 22,000 hours of work, and the Chancellor pays them a visit and lends a hand.
February 2019
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez is appointed the eighth Chancellor of CUNY, becoming the first educator of color, and the first Latino, to head the University. He opened his tenure on May 1, further diversifying CUNY’s leadership by announcing the first appointments to his multicultural cabinet.