Dr. Regina Castro McGowan

In 1996, as a young civil engineering student in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I really wanted the experience of studying abroad. The initial plan was to come over to New York City and apply as a transfer student to CCNY. If accepted, I would complete my bachelor's in engineering and then return to Brazil. Later that year, I did get into CCNY's School of Engineering. However, after a few semesters, I changed my major and eventually graduated with a BA in liberal arts. Not only did I graduate from CCNY, I also met my husband there. We sat next to each other in an undergraduate film class and we have been together ever since. After getting a PhD in Hispanic languages and literatures from the CUNY Graduate Center, I have been working as a full-time faculty member in CCNY's Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures. The commitment and seriousness that I saw from students, faculty, and staff at CCNY made the biggest impression on me when I was a student and has continued to impress me now that I work there. I can say that CCNY changed the course of my life and I could not be happier for that.