UAlbany Made Possible 'The Best Job in the World' — Helping Talented Students Make It to College

Daniel Morales-Armstrong ’10 took his UAlbany experience to Harvard and then to a program in his native Bronx that enriches the futures of high-achieving students of color.

Daniel Morales-Armstrong sits in an ENLACE classroom in The Bronx.

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 4, 2014) — Daniel Morales-Armstrong ’10 says his life was transformed as a Bronx youth by the ENLACE program, a college preparatory program for high-achieving Latino students. Today, as an assistant director at ENLACE in the Bronx Institute at Lehman College, he gets to make that kind of difference for others.

“Frankly, it’s the best job in the world,” said Morales-Armstrong, “and the University at Albany helped make it possible.”

Learn and view more about Daniel Morales-Armstrong and other outstanding UAlbany alumni on the Outcomes Video Page.

After graduating from UAlbany with degrees in criminal justice and psychology, Morales-Armstrong went on to receive a Master of Education in prevention science and practice from Harvard University before gaining his position with ENLACE (which stands for Engaging Latino Communities for Education), where he serves Bronx Latino students from all high schools. Last year, he also began serving in the same capacity with the Bronx Institute Honor Scholars, which is directed toward high-achieving students of color from the Institute's partner high schools.

In addition, Morales-Armstrong works with two chartiable organizations, one which gives first-year college scholarships to underrepresented students, and another which he said "bridges the digital divide in Dominican Republic" by providing low-cost, sustainable energy sources to primary and secondary schools in Santo Domingo in exchange for scholarships to low-income students in the area

He identifies several areas at UAlbany that encouraged his ideals and paved his way to success. “The criminal justice program at the University consistently ranks among the highest in the country,” he said. “And Professor Gordon Gallup in psychology pushed me to think outside the box and assess problems in creative ways. That was one of the things that really prepared me for graduate school success at Harvard.”

Morales-Armstrong also interned in the New York State Assembly — “something I would never have done if I hadn’t attended a school in the state capital.”

Morales-Armstrong also credits the peer encouragement he received as a member of the fraternity Lambda Sigma Upsilon. “When most of us hear the word ‘fraternity,’ we think of the social aspects,” he said. “But my fraternity brothers encouraged me to work harder —my GPA jumped significantly after I joined —and to set my sights higher.

“Their support is another of the reasons I am where I am today — being given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make progress in areas that really matter to my community.”

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