WHEREAS, Angel Luis Lozada was born in New York City on September 22, 1951 to Puerto Rican parents living in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and spent most of his childhood living in the Queensbridge public housing project; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from New York public schools Mr. Lozada came to Philadelphia in 1969 to study at Temple University, where he became involved in efforts among the student body to increase the number of Latinos and students of color and served as the President of the Federation of Puerto Rican Students; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Lozada entered Temple as a pre-dental student but graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism in 1973, and after one semester of law school that fall he left to enter the workforce and began to freelance as a producer, writer, and photographer, in addition to his work as a community activist; and
WHEREAS, In 1976 he began working as a production assistant at WPVI-TV in the Public Affairs department, and after a short departure from the station to work as the director of the community advocacy group Accíon Puertoriqueñia he began working for Action News as a sound technician; and
WHEREAS, During his time at Action News Mr. Lozada's adventures as a photojournalist have taken him all over the United States and the world on assignments. Mr. Lozada has covered every President since Jimmy Carter, numerous political conventions, and major news items such as; the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, the 11th G7 Summit in Bonn, Germany, the Oklahoma City bombing, post-Soviet Russia, the election of Nelson Mandela, Operation Desert Storm, famine in Somalia, bus bombings in Israel, and the papacy of John Paul II; and
WHEREAS, Over the years at WPVI Mr. Lozada rose through the ranks to become Chief Photographer, a position that he has held for nearly thirty years, and has been honored with several awards, including the 1988 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for Individual Achievement in News Photography, the 1990 Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Feature, and numerous awards from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association for News Photography; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Lozada considers his life's crowning achievements to be his marriage of 39 years to his wife Nilza and their two children: Luis Paz Lozada, a Major in the United States Air Force; and Laura María Lozada, a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Rather than chase politicians, he now plans to spend more time chasing his two beautiful grandchildren, Elena and Carlos, as Mr. Lozada is retiring this April; now, therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize and honor Angel Luis Lozada on the occasion of his retirement from WPVI after a long and distinguished career in journalism.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Angel Luis Lozada as a sincere expression of the appreciation of this body.
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