FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PELHAM, NEW YORK, RESIDENT HECTOR GONZALEZ JOINS MANHATTAN COLLEGE’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Pelham, New York, resident Hector Gonzalez, chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and a Manhattan College alumnus, has been elected to the College’s Board of Trustees.

Mr. Gonzalez, a partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw, one of the oldest and largest law firms in the world, concentrates his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense.  Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw advises many of the world’s largest commercial and financial institutions and serves 65 of the Fortune 100 companies.  Clients include Bank One, Bank of America, General Electric and Pfizer. 

Earlier this year, Mr. Gonzalez was inducted into the Independent Sector Alumni Hall of Distinction.  All 14 honorees made outstanding contributions to the state of New York through their careers and public service.  The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) announced the inductees during its 48th Annual Meeting in March at the Albany Institute of History and Art.  Manhattan College is a CICU member institution.

After completing a bachelor of science degree in 1985 in psychology from Manhattan College, Mr. Gonzalez went on to earn a law degree in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  In 1995, he completed a master’s degree in criminal justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York. 

Mr. Gonzalez, who was a Fulbright Scholar in Guatemala and a visiting lecturer of trial advocacy at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City, began his legal career at Rogers & Wells.  He accepted a position in 1990 as an assistant district attorney in New York County, a position he held for the next three years before returning to Rogers & Wells.  In 1994, Mr. Gonzalez became an assistant United States attorney in the southern District of New York and was deputy chief, then chief, of the narcotics unit from 1997 until 1999.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Mr. Gonzalez emigrated to the United States in 1969 with his family.  He has been a part of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) since June 2000.  When appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as chair in April of 2002, the mayor noted that, “Hector Gonzalez, a distinguished lawyer and former prosecutor, has performed superbly as a member of the CCRB, and his combination of experience and judgment will ensure that the CCRB investigates every complaint thoroughly.”

Mr. Gonzalez is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Federal Bar Council and the Hispanic National Bar Association.  He also sits on the New York State Federal Judicial Screening Committee and is a member of the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.  He joins Ms. Clare A. Cunniffe, vice president of security solutions at Computer Associates International, and Brother Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C., president of LaSalle University, as the newest members of Manhattan College’s Board of Trustees.

Mr. Gonzalez is married and has two young daughters.

Manhattan College was founded in 1853 upon the Lasallian tradition of excellence in teaching inspired by St. John Baptist de La Salle.  Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science. 

   Manhattan College Parkway
   Riverdale, New York 10471
   718-862-8000 / 1-800-MC2-XCEL

   © Copyright 1995-1999, 2000-2004 Manhattan College, All rights reserved.