Queens College President Frank Wu has awarded his first Presidential Medal to distinguished alumnus Ricardo L. Cortez.
Cortez, a financier and asset management specialist, was honored at the college’s annual Academic Excellence Award Ceremony, where he gave the keynote address.
He graduated cum laude from Queens College in 1972 with a degree in mathematics. Cortez went on to be certified as an Investment Management Analyst at the Wharton School in 1993.
Cortez is now the co-chief executive officer of Broadmark Asset Management.
“I graduated from Bayside High School in 1967, and perhaps like some Queens College students, I was the first in my family to go to college,” he said.
He applied to three schools: Columbia, St. John’s and Queens College.
“I was accepted at all three, but my parents, who did not have a lot of money, thought Queens College was by far the best choice,” Cortez said. “They turned out to be right.”