Miami Dade College to Rename its InterAmerican Campus the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus on May 17

Miami, May 10, 2019 – Following a unanimous vote by the Miami Dade College (MDC) Board of Trustees in March, MDC will rename the InterAmerican Campus the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus in honor of MDC’s President who will step down in August after 50 years at the college, nearly 25 as president. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m., Friday, May 17, in the parking lot with a reception immediately following on the Building 6 rooftop. It is a dynamic campus with which President Padrón has had a long history.  

Dr. Padrón was the catalyst in creating the InterAmerican Campus, which initially served as an outreach center. Located in the heart of Little Havana, the InterAmerican Campus originally opened as the Wolfson Campus’ Division of Bilingual Studies in the 1970s at the former site of Belen Jesuit High School on SW 8th Street and 7th Avenue. Following the Mariel Boatlift, it was designated a Center and later moved to its current location near SW 8th Street and 27thAvenue. The InterAmerican Center soon became the largest bilingual learning center in higher education. In 2001, it was designated the InterAmerican Campus, becoming MDC’s sixth campus at the time.

Today, the InterAmerican Campus is the only public higher education presence in Little Havana and home to some of the college’s top programs, including its renowned School of Education, World Languages and Sign Language and Interpretation, Dual Language Honors College, new Cloud Computing Academy and state-of-the-art tech center. The campus recently expanded facilities to meet the growing needs of the surrounding community.

WHAT:     Ceremony to Rename InterAmerican Campus the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus

WHEN:     Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m.

WHERE:   InterAmerican Campus, Building 6 rooftop

627 S.W. 27 Ave.

An American by choice, Dr. Padrón arrived in the United States as a teenage refugee in 1961. Since 1995, he has served as President of Miami Dade College (MDC), the largest degree granting institution of higher education in America. He is credited with elevating MDC into a position of national prominence among the best and most recognized U.S. colleges and universities. An economist by training, Dr. Padrón earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of America’s oldest and most prestigious organizations. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., for being a prominent national voice for access and inclusion in higher education. In 2009, TIME magazine included him on the list of “The 10 Best College Presidents.” In 2010, Florida Trend magazine placed him on the cover of its inaugural “Floridian of the Year” issue. In 2011, The Washington Post named him one of the eight most influential college presidents in the U.S.  Also, in 2011, he was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Corporation Centennial Academic Leadership Award. In 2012, he received the Citizen Service Award from Voices for National Service, the coveted TIAA Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence, and the Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship. In 2015, he was inducted into the U.S. News & World Report STEM Hall of Fame. Dr. Padrón’s energetic leadership extends to many of the nation’s leading organizations. He is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) and is a past chair of the board of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and former chair of the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF). During his career, he has been selected to serve on posts of national prominence by five American presidents.

Internationally, President Padrón’s accomplishments have been recognized by numerous nations and organizations including the Republic of France, which named him Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques; the Republic of Argentina, which awarded him the Order of San Martin; Spain’s King Juan Carlos II, who bestowed upon him the Order of Queen Isabella; Spain’s Prince and Princess of Asturias, Felipe and Letizia, who presented him with the Juan Ponce de Leon 500th Anniversary award; Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, who appointed him Honorary Consul in Florida of the Kingdom of Morocco in 2016, and the Amicus Poloniae from the Republic of Poland.

Dr. Padrón’s pace-setting work at Miami Dade College has been hailed as a model of innovation in higher education. He is credited with engineering a culture of success that has produced impressive results in student access, retention, graduation, and overall achievement. MDC enrolls and graduates more minorities than any other institution in the United States, including the largest numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans. Under Dr. Padrón’s leadership, Miami Dade College has received national recognition for its longstanding involvement with its urban community, its catalytic effect for social and economic change, and the marked difference the College has made in student access and success through pace-setting initiatives.

He currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Urban Institute and the Spencer Foundation; RC 2020; the International Association of University Presidents; and Achieving the Dream. In past years he has held leadership positions on the boards of the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta, Miami Branch (past Chair); the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (Chair); the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the White House Commission on Educational Excellence; Campus Compact; Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; The College Board; and the White House/Congressional Commission of the National Museum of the American Latino.

President Padrón is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and prestigious awards.