Yuray Rodriguez

After two days crossing the Florida Straits in a small boat, Yuray Rodriguez arrived in the United States in 2005 with only the clothes on his back and a determination to build a new life. Undeterred by the fact that he didn’t speak a word of English, the 16-year-old enrolled in a Miami high school with his mind set on a future career in aerospace.

Yuray earned admission to The Honors College at Miami Dade College, an opportunity that he paid forward by founding two community programs focusing on children and education. Not only did Yuray earn his A.A. degree with highest honors and the prestigious Board of Trustees Award, he also secured the President’s Scholarship at the University of Miami to study mechanical and aerospace engineering. Yuray is part of the first generation in his family to graduate college and nabbed a coveted spot in General Electric’s two-year leadership program.

He stayed with the company until 2015, when he became a logistics project leader at Ryder Systems. In 2017, Yuray entered FIU’s Executive MBA Program. Last year, he achieved his long-held dream of working in the aerospace industry as the supply chain team leader at aviation company AAR. He and his wife are raising two boys, ages 3 and 2, and he serves on the board of the Association of Cuban-American Engineers, raising money for need-based engineering scholarships. He also has coached students for Odyssey of the Mind competitions for the past nine years.

By Lauren Comander
Writer, College of Business