FIT PROFESSOR ARI VEGA WINS NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AWARD

The Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association is proud to announce that this year’s National Technology Achiever Award for Excellence in Education has been awarded to Prof. Ari Vega of FIT in recognition for his life-long commitment and excellence in the field of education. Professor Vega has proven himself to be a true leader and visionary, a man with extraordinary talent, integrity and energy. On behalf of LISTA, Jose Marquez, the President and CEO of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association, and LISTA’s National Board, we congratulate Professor Ari Vega and FIT for winning this prestigious award.

Prof. Ari Vega of Bronx, NY, is the recipient of the National Latino Technology Achiever Award for Excellence in Education from the Latinos Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA). Vega, an assistant professor in the Production Management department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and an FIT alumnus, will be presented at LISTA’s National Latino Technology Achievers Awards Gala to be held at Pier Sixty, in New York City on the evening of July 27th, 2006.

The National Latino Technology Achiever Award for Excellence in Education honors a Hispanic professional who has made a significant contribution to science, engineering, or technology in the education field. Criteria include expertise in a specific area, leadership ability, uniqueness of accomplishments, outreach in the Hispanic community, potential as a role model, and achievement in mentoring fellow professionals. LISTA is a national non-profit organization geared toward the advancement and development of Hispanics in the information sciences, technology, and telecommunication industries.

Professor Vega joined FIT as an instructor in 1985 and became an assistant professor in 2001. He has furthered departmental goals by creating digital guides for patternmaking and production technologies, contributing to the development of new curriculum, and developing departmental websites for the Jay and Patty School of Business and Technology and other FIT departments.

Additional achievements include the creation of a pre-college program and workshops on starting a small business. He has lectured on information systems at FIT’s Enterprise Center, Bronx Community College, and Westchester Community College, and contributed to the modification of the computer programming technology curriculum at the New York City College of Technology.

Professor Vega has worked to expand the roles of minorities at the college. He is a faculty advisor for the Latin American Student Organization and a member of the executive board of the United College Employees of FIT.

He is also the chairperson of FIT’s Continuing Education Committee, and the director for business and technology for the Council of Business Faculty and Administrators of the State University of New York (SUNY).

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York, Professor Vega received an MCSIS (Master’s of Science in Computer Information Systems) degree magna cum laude from the University of Phoenix in 2004. He received an MBA degree cum laude from Chadwick University in 2001. He graduated from FIT with four degrees: three associate’s degrees (AAS) in fashion design, patternmaking technology, and fashion buying and merchandising, as well as a BS degree in marketing in 1990.

The Production Management department at FIT offers both AAS and BS degrees. Through the study of business administration and production techniques, students learn to implement manufacturing systems that permit cost-effective competition in today’s global marketplace. Graduates become product engineers, directors of manufacturing, production coordinators, general operations managers, and independent business operators.

FIT is a college of art and design, business and technology of the State University of New York. It offers more than 40 programs leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, and MPS degree.

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