Remembering Professor Harry Rodríguez

The Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College mourns the passing of longtime colleague Professor Harry Rodríguez. He taught courses on Puerto Rico’s history for nearly three decades before retiring in 2010.

 Over the years, Professor Rodríguez’s commitment to social justice and institution building was evident as he was a co-organizer of the first historiography conference on Puerto Rico in 1974, a founder of the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy and a co- founder of the Puerto Rican Studies Association. In addition, he helped to organize the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College and later served as acting director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. Professor Rodríguez was a strong supporter of Puerto Rican independence and his scholarship on the seminal Puerto Rican nationalist, Pedro Albizu Campos, is featured in the book, The Puerto Rican Nation.

 Professor Rodríguez taught and advised countless students many of whom are now educators and professionals throughout New York City and beyond; he is owed a great debt for his many important contributions to the development and institutionalization of Latino Studies. The Department extends its deepest condolences to his family and friends.