Carlos Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico who is commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE), has co-written a book titled “Puerto Ricans in the United States: A Contemporary Portrait”.

On Monday, Oct. 15, he will share highlights of his book during a presentation at Northern Essex Community College in Lawrence that begins at 6:30 pm in the El-Hefni Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St, Lawrence, Room 301.  The presentation is free and open to the public, and closes the college’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Santiago co-authored the book with Edna Acosta-Belen, a distinguished professor emerita at the University of Albany, SUNY.  The book, which is in its second edition, traces the trajectory of the Puerto Rican experience from the early colonial period, though a series of waves of migration to the U.S., to current cultural legacies and political and social challenges.  It covers the history, contributions, and contemporary realities of the every-growing Puerto Rican diaspora.

Santiago joined the Massachusetts DHE in 2013 as senior deputy commissioner for academic affairs and he was appointed commissioner in July of 2015.  Prior to that he was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee (Wisconsin’s second largest research university). Santiago is the author or co-author of six books and he has published dozens of articles and book reviews, of which many focus on economic development and the changing socioeconomic status of Latinos in the United States.  Santiago has been named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic Business magazine two times, in 1996 and 2011.

“Puerto Ricans in the United States: A Contemporary Portrait” will be available for purchase at the event.

For additional information, contact Analuz Garcia, NECC’s assistant director of community & international relations, agarcia@necc.mass.edu or call 978-738-7423.