Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab today announced the appointment of Carol Robles-Román as General Counsel and Dean of Faculty. Robles-Román comes to Hunter from her role as co-president and CEO of the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality, where she led legal and advocacy efforts to advance constitutional equality. In addition to her legal expertise and leadership on civil rights matters, Robles-Román also brings unusually deep knowledge about city affairs and CUNY governance, having served for 12 years as New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and for 14 years as a CUNY Trustee.
“Carol Robles Román is a passionate advocate for strengthening public higher education, and possesses a breadth of relevant experience that is rare to find in a single individual,” said President Raab. “We are so grateful that she has decided to bring that expertise to Hunter, and I welcome Carol on behalf of the entire Hunter community.”
As New York City Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Robles-Román oversaw 13 agencies and managed critical compliance matters, including issues involving the city’s Commission on Human Rights, Conflicts of Interest Board, Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, and Environmental Control Board. She was also the Public Records Appeals Officer for City Hall. She has also held key leadership posts at the state level, serving as New York State Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau, as well as Special Inspector General for Bias Matters and Special Counsel for the New York State Unified Court System.
“I am passionate about championing public higher education and equal opportunity for New York’s students, and I can’t imagine a better place to do that than Hunter,” said Robles-Román. “It’s a privilege to be part of the team at one of our nation’s most-forward looking colleges, and one that has been a primary gateway to life-changing educational opportunity in New York City for nearly 150 years.
Robles-Román’s efforts to advance constitutional equality for women were celebrated in a 2018 feature story in The Guardian, and her dedication to public service has been honored with several major awards. Those recognitions include the Women of Courage Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Sharon Corbitt Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, among many others. In 2017 she was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame, and in 2015 she was appointed to the New York City Council Young Women’s Initiative Steering Committee by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Robles-Román holds a BA from Fordham University and a JD from the New York University School of Law.
