Meet a Roadrunner: Wayne Gonzales ’11 is using his criminal justice degree to stop white collar criminals
Wayne Gonzales appears in Times Square while ringing the bell at NASDAQ the day his company was uplisted.
![Wayne Gonzales](/today/images/waynetimessquare.jpg)
Wayne Gonzales appears in Times Square while ringing the bell at NASDAQ the day his company was uplisted.
(Feb. 3, 2016) -- Meet Wayne Gonzales ’11. He worked hard for his criminal justice degree and is now putting it to good use in the banking industry.
When Gonzales was growing up in San Antonio, his mother instilled in him the importance of a college education.
“We were working class,” he said. “We didn’t have a lot of the things most people had, but my mom provided for us.”
Even though no one in his family had gone to college, there was no question about Gonzales getting an education.
“It wasn’t an ‘if,’ it was a ‘when,’” he said.
Gonzales knew he wanted to stay close to home, and when faced with the many higher education options in San Antonio, he found UTSA to be the most impressive.
“I had a few friends who were pre-law and told me that UTSA had a lot of really impressive professors,” he said. “So I chose UTSA because I wanted to be a lawyer and I knew I needed the best pre-law experience.”
Gonzales remembers the message he received on his first day of class with Craig Pair, adjunct professor of criminal justice.
“He told us that we were going to learn to roll up our sleeves and get dirty,” Gonzales said. “He made sure we knew our decisions were going to be scrutinized and we’d have to defend our positions.”
Pair also advised Gonzales that his financial experience and a criminal justice degree would make him a unique fit for tracking and preventing crime in the banking industry. Gonzales now says he couldn't be happier with his career.
“If UTSA taught me one valuable lesson, it was that no one is going to just hand you what you want,” he said.The UTSA alum now uses his criminal justice degree to sniff out fraud in the financial industry. Pair has since invited him back to his classroom to speak with other UTSA students about white collar crime.
“I may have been the first person in my family to go to college, but when the time comes for me to have my own family, they’re going to be Roadrunners,” he said. “It’s really simple.”
In December, Gonzales and his colleagues traveled to New York City to ring the bell at NASDAQ in honor of their company, Payment Data Systems, Inc., becoming publicly traded there.
“It was bright, loud and noisy,” he said. “But it was incredible. I felt like I’d made it, and that it was all worth it, just for this.”
By Joanna Carver
Public Affairs Specialist
-------------------------------
Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.
Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and UTSA Today.
Events
This academically rigorous mathematics-based summer enrichment program prepares middle and high school students for advanced studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participants learn about problem-solving systems, develop greater awareness of STEM careers and strengthen their research skills.
UTSA Main CampusArchaeology 101 will introduce campers to archaeology and build on learned skills through experimental activities (like cave painting, weaving, and garbology).
Center for Archaeological Research, UTSA Main CampusThe camp exposes rising high school juniors, rising seniors and incoming college freshman to the many facets of the criminal justice system. Students will have opportunities to learn the functions of police in society and apply scientific theories to criminal investigations by examining a mock crime scene.
UTSA Main CampusThe Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center invites you to join us for the Summer Bridging Institute. This institute will focus on being lifelong growers and continually seeking to increase our skills as educators.
UTSA Downtown CampusArchaeology 201 will briefly go over the foundations of archaeology and related skills, followed by a different topic over the course of this week (like skeletal analysis, global cultures, and more).
Center for Archaeological Research, UTSA Main CampusCraft a comic to create your own narrative and find your voice through storytelling. Participants will learn to create characters that are self-reflective and through a community lens.
REGSS Community Room (DB 3.202,) UTSA Downtown CampusCome enjoy a discussion on art as a self expression in the age of moving technology and telling your story with a community.
REGSS Community Room (DB 3.202,) UTSA Downtown Campus