Professor Velez received his PhD from Cornell University in 1983. A former Associate professor at Ithaca College as well as an adjunct faculty member at Cornell University since 1977 in the Department of Sociology, he created the first Latinx course which he continues to teach today. He has worked as a consultant to the Dominican Republic, has traveled to Cuba, investigating the effects of "Radio Marti", and was an official observer in the Paraguayan elections in 1994. He is one of the founding members of the Latino Studies Program at Cornell, on the Board of Directors of the L.S.P.S., and has served as Acting Director of the program.