Name Ricky Rossello | Role Political figure | |
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Full Name Ricardo Antonio Rossello Nevares Born March 7, 1979 (age 45)
Puerto Rico ( 1979-03-07 ) Political party New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
Democratic Party of the United States Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Michigan Occupation assistant professor and researcher Party New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Colegio Marista Guaynabo, University of Michigan Parents Pedro Rossello, Irma Margarita Nevares People also search for Pedro Rossello, Irma Margarita Nevares, Luis A. Ferre Profiles | ||
Ricardo Antonio "Ricky" Rossello-Nevares (born March 7, 1979) is a college professor, political advocate and lobbyist from Puerto Rico who founded and presides Boricua Ahora Es. Rossello, a candidate for the New Progressive Party's gubernatorial nomination in 2016, is the youngest son of former Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rossello.
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Early life
Rossello was an athlete during his high school years, during which he was a three-time junior tennis champion in Puerto Rico and the first Puerto Rican to be selected to the International Mathematical Olympiads. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and economics, and a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan. As a researcher in college, Rossello focused on adult stem cell research and worked on the Human Genome Project. He also traveled to his native Puerto Rico where he assisted in research to develop the Tren Urbano.
Political career
Rossello is a political commentator who currently writes a regular column for El Vocero, a daily newspaper published in San Juan, on topics including politics, science, healthcare and the economy. His scientific research has been published on the cover of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and ELife and highlighted in The Scientist and Nature Methods.
A Democrat, he was a Clinton delegate to the 2008 nominating convention and an Obama delegate to the 2012 convention. In 2008, he had a key role in Hillary Clinton's get-out-the-vote efforts for the June 1 Puerto Rico presidential primary, appearing in her final TV ad with Democratic State Chair Roberto Prats, PDP leader Jose Alfredo Hernandez Mayoral and then-Senate President Kenneth McClintock. Clinton won the primary by a 68-32% margin.
In 2012, Rossello founded Boricua ¡Ahora Es!, a political advocacy movement that advocates statehood for Puerto Rico. The movement features a grass-roots educational campaign, suggesting that involvement of the international community may be necessary for the United States government to take action.
Since 2012, Rossello started being mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate for the 2016 election cycle. On September 19, 2015, he confirmed his intention to run for Governor of Puerto Rico in the upcoming 2016 elections,and held a campaign rally the next day at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. At the rally, he endorsed Jenniffer Gonzalez, a Republican, for Resident Commissioner.
Controversies
During August 2012, Rossello got involved in a controversy when given a position at the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. There was no open call for the position, which some have taken as a custom-made position to facilitate his political career. Even after having a paycheck since August 2012, on September 17 it was revealed Dr. Rossello was not assigned to a particular unit on campus, since the Institute of Neurobiology did not accept his appointment.
Prior to his appointment at UPR, he served as a post-doctoral neuroscience and tissue engineering researcher in the lab of Erich Jarvis at Duke University. In January 2014, Rossello revealed that he had quit from the UPR job to start a new post at a private university.
Rossello has also been questioned on his association with Dr. Roberto Fernandez Vina, who has clinics that offer stem cell treatments in Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, and Panama. It seems that Dr. Fernandez Vina is selling unproven stem cell treatments and that his few publications do not exist. This type of clinic has been denounced as scams by stem cell researchers, since very few treatments have been proven to work.
Personal life
Rossello married Beatriz Isabel in 2012. They have a daughter together, Claudia, born on August 21, 2014.