William Q. Sanchez

William Sánchez was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. His parents moved their family to Newark, New Jersey, in the 1950s, where his father became one of the district leaders in the Puerto Rican neighborhood that was demolished to make room for the building of the Rutgers-Newark Campus. He graduated from Rutgers- Newark in 1976 with a degree in Theatre Arts and Speech. He began working at NJN (New Jersey Network) in 1979. Mr. Sánchez served as the executive producer/director of Images/ Imágenes, a cultural and public affairs show. Images/Imágenes won 4 Emmys and received 20 Emmy nominations. In 2010, he won an Emmy Award with the television special "The Spanish Guitar" featuring Jose Feliciano and was acclaimed for his special "The Golden Age of Dance: The Palladium (2008)" that went worldwide on the internet and is being used in dance classes in California and Rutgers' Mason Gross. Before NJN shut down in 2011, Images/Imágenes was the longest-running Latino series on television. During his career spanning over 35 years, Mr. Sánchez has won four Emmy's for his work producing Latino public health and arts programs. His programs have received acclaim from the White House, the United States Congress, three NJ Governors, the NJ Assembly, and Senate and national arts awards. He created the Hispanic Youth Showcase in 1986 and The Road to Stardom in 1998. On a personal level, he received lifetime achievement Doctor in Human Letters from Essex County College, Citizen Service Awards from the City of Newark and Trenton and numerous community organizations' recognition awards including hometown hero awards from the New Jersey Nets at Meadowlands in 2008 and the Newark Bears at Bears Stadium. In 2016, he was selected as the Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican Parade, Illustrious Latino Leader in Communications and honored during Rutgers, the State University 250th Birthday celebration with a prestigious Fellow Award.