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Northern Arizona University’s 17^th president

José Luis Cruz Rivera began his tenure as the 17^th President of Northern Arizona University (NAU) on June 14, 2021.

President Cruz Rivera joined NAU in June 2021.  In his first year of service, he collaborated with university stakeholders in the development of the Elevating Excellence strategic roadmap. The roadmap, which articulates a bold vision for a New NAU, has inspired impactful work to deliver equitable postsecondary value that includes broadening access to record numbers of Arizona students, implementing new admissions and financial aid practices, and launching innovative statewide partnerships to boost attainment. Dr. Cruz Rivera is also a Professor of Electrical Engineering at NAU. He currently teaches a freshman course: EE110 Introduction to Digital Logic.

Prior to joining NAU, Dr. Cruz Rivera served as President of The City University of New York’s (CUNY)  (Bronx, NY) and as Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost of the 25-campus, 500,000-student â€”the world’s largest urban university.

Previously, Cruz Rivera served as provost of . He is a former vice president of Higher Education Policy and Practice at  in Washington, DC and a former Chief Student Affairs Officer for the  system. He began his career as a faculty member in engineering at the , rising through the ranks and serving as chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and dean of Academic Affairs.

A leading national advocate for equitable educational policies, Cruz Rivera is a frequent keynote speaker and writer on higher education issues. He has testified several times before the US Congress, and his work has been funded by federal, state, and philanthropic organizations including the National Science Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the US Department of Education, among others.  His work in higher ed has been covered by many media outlets, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Univision.

Cruz Rivera serves on the National Advisory Committee for Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), the Arizona Commerce Authority, the steering committee of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and several other boards, commissions, and advisory groups. In the past, he chaired the board of directors of The Education Trust and served on the board of directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), Data Quality Campaign (DQC), New York Botanical Garden, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), the Community Advisory Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Postsecondary Value Commission, among others.

Cruz Rivera is a Fellow of the , Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a patented inventor, published scholar, and a National Science Foundation Career Award recipient. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, and his master’s and doctorate degrees from the , specializing in optical interconnections for ultracompact massively parallel processing systems.

President Cruz Rivera is the oldest of four, father of five, and grandfather to two. He shares his life with Dr. Rima Brusi from whom he has learned much and with whom he forever will live in love.