​Rafael A. Suarez

Broadcast Journalist, NPR

California State University, Monterey Bay

Mr. Rafael A. Suarez Jr. is a distinguished journalist whose commitment to public service and belief in multiculturalism advance core values of California State University, Monterey Bay while enriching the state of California and the lives of its residents. Throughout his more than 30 years as an award-winning broadcaster, Mr. Suarez has demonstrated a thoughtful and honest commitment to fact-finding. By virtue of his steadily growing impact and influence, he has regularly contributed to the knowledge and understanding of millions of listeners and viewers worldwide.

Since 1999, Mr. Suarez has served as a Washington-based senior correspondent for The NewsHour television program. He came to The NewsHour from National Public Radio, where he was host of the nationwide news program Talk of the Nation. Previously, he spent seven years covering local, national and international stories for WMAQ-TV, the NBC-owned station in Chicago. Mr. Suarez has narrated, anchored or reported countless documentaries for public radio and television. His work challenges listeners and viewers to broaden their appreciation of the constantly changing mosaic of peoples, cultures, religions and perspectives in the United States and around the globe.

He has authored or contributed to many books, including The Holy Vote, which examined the tightening relationship between religion and politics in America. His acclaimed book, The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration, chronicled the impact of American migration from cities to suburbs in the second half of the 20th century.

Mr. Suarez was born in 1957 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He holds a BA in African history from New York University and an MA in the social sciences from the University of Chicago. He is a recipient of the Benton Fellowship in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Chicago. A life member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Mr. Suarez was a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists.

In recognition of his accomplishments as a journalist, author and educator, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Monterey Bay are proud to confer upon Mr. Rafael A. Suarez Jr. the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.