North Central College Cardinals

A native of Santiago, Cuba, Ruben Roca's success as a student-athlete at North Central was just a foreshadowing of things to come. Roca was a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American swimmer for the Cardinals, winning the 1,650-yard freestyle national title in 1961 and swimming one leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay in 1962. He was a key member of the 1961 and '62 national championship swimming squads. 

At the conference level, Roca was the CCI Champion in the 400 freestyle (4:46.8, 1961) and as part of the 400 freestyle relay (3:28.1, 1961). He is one of just two North Central swimmers to ever compete in the Olympics, representing Cuba in the 1960 Rome Games. The Cardinal swimming standout lists some of his favorite North Central memories as scoring an upset win over Southern Illinois University in 1959 and defeating Notre Dame in two dual meets. He remembers the uniqueness and camaraderie of the Varsity Club; the times spent under coach Eggert Giere; and the leadership that coach Hal Henning '41, an inaugural Hall of Fame inductee, lent to the swim team.

 Roca is also grateful for the academic opportunities he and his brother, Rudolpho '64, found in the economics department at North Central. Following graduation from North Central, Roca pursued a graduate degree in economics at American University in Washington, D.C. He later became vice president and director of retail strategies for the Rouse Company, a leading retail development firm, where he served for 30 years. 

After retiring from Rouse, he launched and is managing director of Roca Real Estate Advisors, an urban development advisory firm that aids clients in the United States and Europe. Regarded as an authority in retail commercial development, throughout his career Roca has been asked to address numerous international groups and has advised the European Economic Community on the privatization of real estate in former Eastern European countries. In 1997, he was honored with the College's Outstanding Alumni Award. His greatest memory, however, is meeting his wife, Mary '63, upon returning from the Olympics in 1960.