Rossana López León (born March 6, 1969) is a
Puerto Rican politician and public servant from the
Popular Democratic Party (PPD). López was elected to the
Senate of Puerto Rico in 2012. Before that, she served as Director of the Office of Affairs of the Elderly.
Early years and studies
Rossana López León was born in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
on March 6, 1969, to Norberto López and Carmen León. She is the fourth of five children. López grew up in
Cayey. She served as class president during her junior high and high school years. She was also part of the
honor roll
An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their coursework at school.
United States
In the US, honors students may refer to:
# Students recognized for their academic achievement on list ...
during high school. Before entering college, López did
missionary work in the
Dominican Republic.
López received her
bachelor's degree in
Psychology from the
University of Puerto Rico at Cayey
The University of Puerto Rico in Cayey (UPR-Cayey) is a public university in Cayey, Puerto Rico. It is part of the University of Puerto Rico System. It was initially founded as a regional school in 1967 and became a college in 1969. It was awar ...
. During her time in college, she founded the Volunteer Corps of the Mennonite Hospital of Cayey, where they developed an educational video about the elderly population in Puerto Rico. She was also part of an
exchange student in the United States. Because of her work, she earned the Governor's Medal offered by the Office for Youth Affairs.
After that, López completed her
master's degree in
Gerontology
Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". The fie ...
at
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Professional career and public service
After graduating, López became part of the faculty of the
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. She then became the Executive Director of the Governor's Office for the Elderly Affairs, the first Elderly People's Solicitor, and the first representative from that field in the
United Nations.
Political career
López ran for a seat in the
Senate of Puerto Rico under the
Popular Democratic Party (PPD). After winning a spot on the
2012 primaries, López was elected on the
general elections.
During her campaign in the
2020 San Juan, Puerto Rico mayoral election
San Juan, Puerto Rico, held an election for mayor on November 3, 2020. Among other elections, it was held concurrently with the 2020 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election. It saw the election of New Progressive Party nominee Miguel Romero.
Incum ...
, which she lost,
her campaign platform included support for
LGBT communities of Puerto Rico.
She also pledged to form commissions to support the community from
Dominican Republic who have made Puerto Rico their home.
See also
*
25th Senate of Puerto Rico
The 25th Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and will meet from January 2, 2013, to January 1, 2017. All members were elected in the General Elections of 2012. The Senate has a majority of mem ...
References
External links
*
Living people
Popular Democratic Party members of the Senate of Puerto Rico
1969 births
21st-century Puerto Rican women politicians
University of Puerto Rico alumni
University of Puerto Rico faculty
American women academics
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