Maria Pumariega

Advisory Board Member

Madeline Pumariega is the first female president to lead Miami Dade College (MDC), the institution she attended decades earlier as a student-athlete. Her passion for innovation in higher education was born out of her own experiences, first as student and then as a longtime administrator at MDC. Prior to becoming MDC’s President, Pumariega was appointed the first female and Hispanic chancellor of the Florida College System (FCS). In that role, she designed and implemented strategies to keep college accessible and affordable for Floridians, especially in high-demand job fields. In 2019, she became the executive vice president and provost of Tallahassee Community College, where her innovative approaches advanced the College’s three core divisions: academic affairs, student affairs and workforce development. President Pumariega helped lead the school during the unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pivoted the college’s infrastructure to support virtual classroom instruction and student-teacher interaction.

Madeline Pumariega is the first female president to lead one of the nation’s largest educational institutions, Miami Dade College. Her passion for innovation in higher education was born out of her own experiences, first as student and then as a longtime administrator at MDC. Madeline’s passion is ensuring that students have a pathway toward upward economic mobility through educational opportunities by fueling the talent needs of a global economy and securing the future of the College.