On December 7, 2018, Fernando García Delgado, defended his thesis titled Cocinando suave: Essays about salsa in Puerto Rico, a translation from Spanish into English of Cocinando suave: ensayos de salsa en Puerto Rico by César Colón Montijo, editor.
The Thesis Committee, formed by Jane Barnes Slown, M.A., Luis A. García Nevares, Ph.D., and thesis advisor David Auerbach, Ph.D., awarded his thesis the grade sobresaliente.