CUNY DSI Director and Distinguished Professor of Sociology Ramona Hernandez
Recognizing her contributions to the Dominican experience in the United States and beyond, Ramona Hernandez has been named as one of City & State magazine’s 2026 Latino Trailblazers.
The first female director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute and a distinguished professor of sociology, Hernandez has been nationally and internationally recognized for her service, scholarship and teaching. The author of pioneering texts in the areas of migration, labor, and Dominican studies, her work examines how Dominicans navigate daily life in the U.S., especially in comparison to other ethnic and Latino groups with whom they share immigrant spaces.
Hernandez has conducted annual research studies on issues such as the relationship between education, employment and income in the Dominican community, as well as on U.S.-born Dominicans’ and Dominican immigrants’ compliance with public health recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under her leadership, CUNY DSI has distinguished itself as a world-class research institute devoted to studying the people of Dominican descent in the United States and other parts of the world. The nation’s first such institute, CUNY DSI is home to a research unit, a Dominican library, and Dominican archives. The Institute’s work has resulted in a number of historical discoveries, like the identification of the first Dominican immigrant to settle in New York City.
Recently, CUNY DSI received a gift of a collection of almost 500 historical items, including maps of the island of Hispaniola and its environs, some dating back as far as the 16th century.
Earlier this year, CUNY DSI became the new headquarters of the Inter-University Program for Latino Research, the first national consortium dedicated to Latino research in the U.S., and Hernandez was appointed as the organization’s executive director.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized among the 2026 Latino Trailblazers,” said Hernandez. “I see this recognition as an affirmation of the collective work we have undertaken at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at CCNY to document, preserve, and share the history and contributions of Dominicans and Latinos. Creating knowledge about the good our people have done is also a way of building the foundation from which future generations can emerge empowered and proud of the legacies they embody, and mindful of their responsibility to carry those legacies forward.”
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Syd Steinhardt
212-650-7875
ssteinhardt@ccny.cuny.edu