Board of Directors
Félix Matos Rodriguez is President of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York. Trained as a social scientist, Dr. Matos Rodríguez previously held leadership positions in foundations, universities, policy centers and branches of government in which he combined his scholarship with social policy, advocacy and change.
Dr. Matos Rodríguez previously served as Secretary of the Department of the Family for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where he formulated public policy and administered service delivery in the Child Support Enforcement, Adoption and Foster Care, Child and Elderly Protection, Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Child Care, and Head Start. Managing an annual budget of $2.2 billion, Dr. Matos Rodríguez oversaw nearly 9,500 employees. Previously, he had served as Senior Social Welfare and Health Advisor to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Matos Rodríguez has been published extensively on the subjects of women’s, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Latino Studies and Migration; his work has appeared been in such peer-reviewed journals as the Journal of Urban History, the Public Historian, Latin American Research Review, Centro Journal, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, and the Boletín de la Asociacíon de Demografía Histórica, in addition to several anthologies. His expert commentary has appeared in many periodicals including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Hartford Courant, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, The Congressional Quarterly, The Daily News, Newsday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, El Diario/La Prensa, Hoy, The Orlando Sentinel, El Nuevo Día, El Vocero, and The Hispanic Outlook of Higher Education.
He is a graduate of Colegio San Ignacio High School in San Juan, Puerto Rico, graduated cum laude in Latin American Studies from Yale University, and received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He has received numerous awards for community service, including recognition for excellence in education from the New York State Senate and Assembly’s Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus in 2002, a special recognition from the New York City Council during Hispanic Heritage Month in 2003, selection as “Man of the Year” by the New York City League of Puerto Rican Woman in 2009, the El Diario/La Prensa “EL Award” in 2009, and “Educator of the Year” in 2009 from the National Dominican Roundtable. He joined the Fedcap Board in 2011.