Dr. Havidán Rodríguez

Havidán Rodríguez was appointed the 20th president of the State University of New York at Albany by its Board of Trustees in June 2017.  Previously, President Rodríguez was the founding Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  During his tenure at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Rodriguez was instrumental in creating that new public research university and building its medical school from the ground up.  Dr. Rodríguez had previously served as Interim President, Provost, and Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Pan-American.   The University of Texas Pan-American merged with The University of Texas at Brownsville to form the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Prior to his leadership positions in Texas, Dr. Rodríguez served as Deputy Provost, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. A highly regarded scholar, he studies the socioeconomic impacts of disasters and the economic well-being of minority populations in the US and Puerto Rico.