El Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños

Director: Edwin Meléndez

Biography

Edwin Meléndez is a Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College and the Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies. Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Meléndez came to the United States in 1978 after receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Puerto Rico. He earned a master's degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and in 1985 received his Ph.D. also in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He began his teaching career at Fordham University in 1984, teaching economics and Puerto Rican studies.

In 1999 he joined Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York City. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Melendez was the Director of the Community Development Research Center at the Milano Graduate School, and from 1992 to 1998, he was the director of the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He was also an associate professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1986 to 1992.

He has conducted considerable research in the areas of Latino studies, economic development, labor markets, and poverty. In addition to numerous scientific papers and other publications, he is the co-editor of the recently published Latinos in a Changing Society (Praeger, 2007), and the author or editor of ten books including Communities and Workforce Development (Upjohn Institute: 2004), Working on Jobs: The Center for Employment Training (Boston: Mauricio Gaston Institute,1996), and Hispanics in the Labor Force (Plenum Press,1991). In addition, he has served as invited Editor for Puerto Rico: A Colonial Dilemma Radical America 23(1), 1989; Puerto Rican Poverty and Labor Markets, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences l4 (1), 1992; Puerto Rican Poverty and Migration, Latino Studies Journal, May 1993; Latinos in a Changing Society, New England Journal of Public Policy. 11(1-2), 1997.

Dr. Meléndez has worked as a consultant on employment, economic development, job creation, and small business for numerous government, community, and philanthropic foundations. In his twenty years of experience as principal investigator, he has managed over 40 research, outreach or demonstration projects, and supervised or collaborated with over 60 researchers in projects that resulted in several edited books, special issues of academic journals, and other publications.

Edwin Meléndez
Director, Center for Puerto Rica Studies
Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning

695 Park Avenue, Room E-1409
New York, NY 10065

voice: 212-772-5695
Main: 212-772-5688
fax: 212-650-3673
edwin.melendez@hunter.cuny.edu