‘An Extraordinary Capacity to Build Bridges’ — Remembering Juan Carlos Rodriguez

Posted August 17, 2026

To truly understand Juan Carlos Rodríguez was to watch him walk into a room of musicians in his beloved Puerto Rico. The bond, the mutual respect, and the shared understanding were palpable, said Miguel Rosas Buendia, Rodriguez’ colleague in the School of Modern Languages. 

“Because Caribbean music was such a central part of Juan Carlos’ life, his social world, and his teaching, he possessed a singular gift: the ability to transform sounds into the syllables of a shared language of humanity,” Buendia said. “Every encounter revealed the affection and respect that local communities had for him, as well as his own remarkable ability to communicate that sense of connection to his students.”

Rodriguez recently passed away, leaving a legacy of scholarship and human connection that his colleagues say will live on in the work he did.

"Just as his scholarship linked diverse struggles in Puerto Rico and across Latin America to broader global concerns, the social spaces in which his interests flourished also brought people together in deeply meaningful ways," Buendia said. "Juan Carlos had an extraordinary capacity to build bridges, creating communities of friendship, learning, and mutual understanding wherever he went." 

Rodriguez joined Georgia Tech in 2008 following teaching stints at Rice University and the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. He earned his Ph.D. in Literature and a certificate in Latin American Studies from Duke University. While at Duke, he wrote a dissertation using the films of documentarian Patricio Guzmán to explore how Chile navigated its transition to democracy after the fall of the Pinochet regime.

With later research on Caribbean culture, documentary media, and digital archives, Rodriguez continued to follow his interest in understanding how audiovisual media captures collective memory, and historical trauma. 

Through his work, Rodriguez consistently illuminated the human, environmental, and political struggles of marginalized Latin American communities, connecting local history to global concerns of human rights and justice. 

'Positive Energy and Enthusiasm'

A prime example of this was his 2024 documentary, Vieques: Archivo Vivo (Vieques: A Living Archive). The film examines the human, environmental, and health consequences of the U.S. Navy’s decades-long use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a bombing range. 

“I had heard about the U.S. military occupation of the island, but I didn't fully understand the human and environmental toll until I saw his film,” said Rodriguez’ Modern Languages colleague Malaika Serrano. “It's beautifully made, but what has stayed with me is the way Juan Carlos centered voices that have too often been overlooked." 

Rodriguez also helped make global and language learning opportunities possible for thousands of students and hundreds of faculty and staff members across many Atlanta colleges and universities as part of his work with the Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC), said his co-director, Tony Lemieux of Georgia State University.

“Juan Carlos brought a positive energy and enthusiasm to our work, and his impact will live on through the stories and lives of not only those who knew him but also those who benefit from the things that he built,” Lemieux said.

More Than a Mentor

While Rodriguez was eminently respected in his field, he was also revered as a coworker and mentor.

Serrano, who succeeded Rodriguez as co-director of the AGSC, said Rodriguez backed her as the new director of the center. 

“To me, that's sponsorship —  a mentor who risks their own social capital to help someone else advance,” Serrano said. “We'd only known each other for a couple of months, but he was already championing me behind the scenes. Looking back, I know I wasn’t the only person he did that for. It came so naturally to him.”

‘Making People Feel Seen, Welcomed, and Valued’

That spirit of partnership extended directly into how he worked alongside his peers; he demonstrated genuine collaboration in which teamwork was never a formality, but rather a foundational philosophy.

"For Juan Carlos, collaboration was essential,” said Modern Languages colleague Osvaldo Cleger.

His deep commitment to shared work also meant cultivating a culture of open, honest dialogue where ideas could be rigorously tested and disagreements discussed without compromising personal bonds, Cleger said.

 "I will deeply miss the man with whom disagreement was never something to avoid, but one of the ways we thought together," Cleger said. "We could debate, challenge each other, and push our ideas as far as they would go, never fearing that our friendship would fracture because we saw things differently." 

He also lived with a deep commitment to empathy and generosity, said colleague Antonio Cardentey.

“He had a rare gift for making people feel seen, welcomed, and valued,” Cardentey said. “Being around him was always a genuine joy, and those of us who had the privilege of knowing him are better people for having shared a part of our lives with him.”