Carlos A. Medina, president and CEO of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey and president of Robinson Aerial, will give the keynote address at William Paterson University’s 2022 undergraduate commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 18. The ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark. Medina will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
More than 2,300 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree candidates are expected to be recognized at the University’s Commencement events. A separate ceremony will be held for master’s and doctoral degree candidates on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the Sports and Recreation Center on William Paterson’s Wayne campus.
Alumni from the Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 will be present at the undergraduate ceremony along with members of the Pioneer Society, which consists of alumni who graduated at least 50 years ago.
“I am looking forward to welcoming Carlos Medina to William Paterson’s Commencement ceremony and presenting him with an honorary degree,” says President Richard Helldobler. “Mr. Medina’s success in business and as a civic leader, media personality, and advocate for diversity in entrepreneurship give him a unique perspective on the world into which the WP Class of 2022 will be graduating. I am sure our graduates, their families, and guests will all appreciate hearing from him on this very special day.”
In January 2019, Medina became president and CEO of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (SHCCNJ), having served as its chairman since 2012 and as a member since 2005. The organization represents 119,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in New Jersey that contribute more than $20 billion annually to the state’s economy. In conjunction, Medina in 2019 co-founded and became the chairman of the Hispanic Chamber Fund, a loan program that helps Hispanic Chamber member business owners and entrepreneurs across the U.S fairly and transparently gain access to capital to help them build, grow, and expand their businesses.
He has been dedicated to raising awareness for and promoting diversity in entrepreneurship. He serves as executive producer and host for Que Pasa NJ on New Jersey PBS; the show, in its third season, features in-depth discussions with Hispanics from business, culture, politics, nonprofits and academia, as well as non-Hispanic influencers and allies. He is also a regular contributor for Univision New York and often discusses important issues with New Jersey and New York media outlets.
Medina is the president of Robinson Aerial, Inc., a firm specializing in mapping and engineering with a long and rich history in New Jersey. As president and majority owner of the company since 2009, he has led an expansion into services such as construction management and GIS mapping, among others.
A graduate of Rutgers University-Newark, Medina earned a law degree from Rutgers Law School. He is currently a member of the board of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and the advisory board of the New Jersey Salvation Army, a trustee of the Hudson County Economic Development Authority, and a member of Governor Murphy’s ReStart the Economy Task Force. He has served as a board member of New Jersey Economic Development Authority, where he served as chairman of the Real Estate Subcommittee for several years.
About William Paterson University
William Paterson University is a leading public university located in suburban Wayne, New Jersey with nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and more than 82,000 alumni. The University offers a wide array of degree programs on the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, taught by a highly distinguished and diverse faculty that includes numerous Fulbright scholars and recipients of prestigious awards, research grants, and fellowships. The third most diverse public institution in the state, the University is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a Minority-Serving Institution, and 45 percent of students are the first in their families to attend college. It also ranks in the top 3 percent of institutions in the country in the 2021 Social Mobility Index, created by CollegeNet to measure the extent to which a college or university educates more economically disadvantaged students (with family incomes below the national median) at lower tuition and graduates them into good paying jobs. Students benefit from individualized attention from faculty mentors, small class sizes, and numerous research, internship, and clinical experiences.
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William Paterson University
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
973-720-2000
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