At a graduation ceremony before a sell-out crowd in Royce Hall, Jorge Ramos, news anchor for Univision for 29 years and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people for 2015, received an award and journalism certificate from Wayne Smutz, dean of UCLA Extension and Continuing Education, 31 years after the TV journalist completed the program.

Ramos, the keynote speaker and special honoree, was applauded along with hundreds of other happy graduates at the event. He has worked as an anchor for Noticiero Univision since 1986. He currently hosts “America with Jorge Ramos” for the network Fusion — a joint venture between ABC News and Univision — and “Al Punto,” Univision’s weekly public affairs program.

Ramos, who in the 1980s successfully completed Extension courses that included investigative journalism and TV news writing and production, told attendees that his studies at UCLA Extension helped him land his first broadcasting job at KMEX.

“Somebody has to give you a second chance,” said Ramos. “And for me, UCLA Extension gave me that second chance in life and allowed me to reinvent myself.”

Ramos also received Extension’s Professional Achievement Award. More than 2,000 people earned Extension certificates in 2014-15.

For more stories on commencement and UCLA’s newest graduates, go to Newsroom’s commencement page.