Borough of Manhattan Community College
President Antonio Perez

Dr. Antonio Pérez, President of Borough of Manhattan Community College since 1995, has dedicated himself to making BMCC an institution recognized nationally for excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship, and service to students and to the community.

Borough of Manhattan Community College is the only comprehensive community college in Manhattan and the largest in The City University of New York. The college provides high quality academic programs and services to nearly 21,000 students who enroll in one of its 21 degree granting programs. Over 8,000 students enroll in the college's Adult and Continuing Education, and more than 2,000 New York City middle school and high school students who participate in collaborative programs. BMCC is distinguished by its #1 national ranking in awarding associate degrees in Computer Information Sciences, its #2 ranking in awarding associate degrees in Business Management and proud of its richly diverse student population and its national ranking of being #5 in awarding associate degrees to African-American students, #12 in awarding in awarding associate degrees to Hispanic students, and the top twenty nationally in awarding associate degrees to Asian-Americans.

Under the direction of Dr. Pérez, Borough of Manhattan Community College has built an extensive network of partnerships with the business community. In the process, he has created ways to meet the needs of the business community, for example, by providing on-site training and development courses for a company's employees.

Dr. Pérez has extended the college's reach to make it more accessible. BMCC now offers a wide variety of courses in Upper Manhattan in Inwood, at CUNY in the Heights, and in Harlem at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building. BMCC's Educational Opportunity Center in Harlem offers job-training programs. BMCC also sponsors a number of collaborative programs with New York City high schools and middle schools.

Since the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, in which BMCC lost a building, Dr. Pérez has spoken widely on "leadership during crises."

Dr. Pérez maintains a deep personal commitment to community service. He served on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's World Trade Center Memorial Committee. He serves as secretary of the board of directors of the Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, and sits of the boards of the Business Alliance for Downtown New York, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural. He is Commissioner of the Greater New York Councils of Boy Scouts of America. In recognition of his distinguished service to higher education, Dr. Perez was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by his alma mater, the State University of New York at Oneonta.

President Pérez is a strong believer in cross-cultural and cross-national education and exchanges. A driving force behind BMCC's Study Abroad Programs, in November of 2007 Dr. Pérez visited the People's Republic of China to explore and develop cooperative educational ventures between BMCC and Chinese universities.

Professionally, Dr. Pérez is secretary of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). He is vice president of the board of directors of Hispanic Educational Telecommunications System, and the National Community College Hispanic Council. He also serves on the editorial board of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. In October 2008, Pérez was one of five recipients of the Annual Latino Heritage and Culture Award. The honor, given out by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. at his yearly Latino Heritage and Culture Celebration, recognizes the accomplishments of Latino leaders in New York City.

The City College Birmingham, England honored Antonio Pérez with the Chair's Award for Contributions to Global Education. President Pérez was also selected one of New York's top 100 minority business leaders by Crain's New York Business.