The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities established the HACU Hall of Champions to honor those who embody the mission of the Association through exemplary efforts “To Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education.” The 2025 HACU Hall of Champions inductee was Félix V. Matos Rodríguez Ph.D., who was honored on November 1, 2025, during HACU’s 39th Annual Conference.
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez is the eighth chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY), a system serving nearly 240,000 degree-seeking students across 26 New York City campuses. Since becoming chancellor in May 2019, he has focused on advancing student equity, expanding career opportunities, and creating innovative academic offerings that strengthen CUNY’s role as an engine of economic mobility.
Matos Rodríguez is the first educator of color and the first Latino to lead the nation’s largest urban university. He previously served as president of CUNY’s Queens College and Hostos Community College, making him one of a select group of U.S. higher education leaders to have led both a baccalaureate and a community college. Under his leadership, CUNY has expanded career pipelines, improved the transfer process, increased online degree offerings, and strengthened public-private partnerships supporting students and graduates.
An accomplished historian, Matos Rodríguez has published extensively in women’s, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Latino, and migration studies. He is a former chair of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and has held national leadership roles, including chair of the American Council on Education Board of Directors.
Matos Rodríguez graduated cum laude from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies, and earned a doctorate in history from Columbia University.
