# List of University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras people

This list of University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras people includes alumni and faculty affiliated with UPRRP.

## Notable alumni of University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras

| Alumni | Notability |
| Juan Mari Brás | advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States; founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party |
| Norma Burgos | (B.A., M.P.A.) State Senator, Puerto Rico Senate (2001–present) |
| Sila M. Calderón | (M.P.A.) 7th governor of Puerto Rico (2001–2005); Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico (1997–2001) |
| Rafael Hernández Colón | 4th Governor of Puerto Rico, first term 1973–1977, second term 1985–1993; State Senator, Puerto Rico Senate (1969–1973) |
| Julia de Burgos | (B.A. Education 1933) considered by many to be the greatest poet born in Puerto Rico and one of the greatest female poets of Latin America |
| José Andreu García | (B.A. Economics 1958, J.D. 1961) jurist; former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico |
| Hans Hertell | former United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic |
| Enrique Laguerre | writer, poet, teacher and critic |
| Luz Martinez-Miranda | Physicist and professor at the University of Maryland; first female president of the National Society of Hispanic Physicists |
| Kenneth McClintock | Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, fulfilling the role of Lieutenant Governor (first-in-line of succession) in the U.S. territory |
| Edwin Irizarry Mora | economist, Puerto Rican Independence Party candidate for governor of Puerto Rico in the 2008. Professor, Department of Economics, UPRM |
| Jesús T. Piñero | first native Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico by the Government of the United States |
| Nellys Pimentel | Miss Earth 2019 |
| Tania Ramos González | Lecturer, poet, and columnist |
| Luisa R. Seijo Maldonado | (M.S.W. 1972) university professor, activist and social worker |
| Nydia Velázquez | (B.A. 1974) U.S. representative, D-New York (1993–present) |
| Aníbal Acevedo Vilá | (B.A. 1982, J.D. 1985) 8th governor of Puerto Rico (2005–2009); U.S. representative (Resident Commissioner), D-Puerto Rico (2001–2004); State Representative, Puerto Rico House of Representatives (1992–1999) |
| Luis Castro Rivera | Olympian and men's high jump coach. Participated in the 2016 Rio and 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. |
| José Miguel Agrelot | (B.A. 1949) Puerto Rican comedian and television host. His program, Su Alegre Despertar, won the Guiness World Record recognition for the longest running daily radio program. One of the most important event venues in Puerto Rico bears his name in his honor (José Miguel Agrelot Colsieum, “El Choliseo”) |
| Ada Monzón | (B.S. 1986) She is the first female meteorologist in Puerto Rico and serves as the Founder and President of the Board of Directors of Eco Exploratorio: Museo de Ciencias de PR. Additionally, she holds the position of chief meteorologist at WAPA-TV, Noticentro al Amanecer, WKAQ-580 am Univisión Radio, and Noticel. Prior to this, she worked as a professor at UPR, Río Piedras, and in the field of Mitigation at FEMA. She has also served as chief meteorologist at Univision PR and WIPR-TV. |

## Notable faculty

| Faculty | Notability |
| Luis López Álvarez | poet and writer; author of Los Comuneros |
| Grizelle González | ecologist at the Sabana Field Research Station |
| Ruben Berrios | current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party; former state senator; Law Professor at the University of Puerto Rico's Law School |
| Juan Ramon Jimenez | Spanish poet and writer, received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956 |
| Luce López-Baralt | professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the university |
| Fernando Picó | historian and Jesuit priest, leading expert on the history of Puerto Rico |
| Pedro Juan Soto | writer |
| Rexford Tugwell | served as the last appointed American governor of Governor of Puerto Rico, 1941-1946; former Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico |