San Juan, May 24, 2023 - The Board of Trustees of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico announces the confirmation of Dr. Rafael Ramírez Rivera as the new president of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Ramirez Rivera becomes the eleventh president of this century-old institution of higher education since its founder, the American Reverend John Will Harris.
Dr. Ramirez Rivera holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Puerto Rico and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from the Inter-American University Metro Campus. In addition, she has participated and studied at several management schools such as AICS Management Institute at New Hampshire College and Florida International University. He has been part of the Oxford University Summer Research Program, the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education (MLE) at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, as well as at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and the University of Bologna.
Dr. Ramírez Rivera has worked for years in various areas of education in the country. He served as president and CEO of Humacao Community College, administrator of the Career Technical School of Antilles College in San Juan, president and CEO of Columbia College, director of the Office of Licensing and Accreditation of the Puerto Rico Council on Higher Education, and president of Huertas Junior College.
INTER's new president has served on more than a hundred licensing or accreditation review teams with various state agencies, regional and national commissions, and accreditation organizations in the United States, South America, Europe and India. He has served as a commissioner of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Universities in Washington, DC.
For 14 years, he served uninterruptedly as rector of INTER's Arecibo campus and last year, he served as interim president of the University. “Yesterday, Tuesday, May 23, our Board of Trustees endorsed the appointment of Dr. Ramírez Rivera. We recognize that Dr. Ramirez Rivera has a wealth of qualities and experience to continue to position Inter-American University as the leading educational institution it has proven to be. From his presidency, we will continue to contribute greatly to our society as we have been doing for 111 years,” said the president of the Board of Trustees, José R. Muñoz Avila. Dr. Ramírez Rivera is received with the certain commitment that he will have the support and backing of the university community that makes up the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
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