INGRID VASILIU-FELTES,MD,MBA
Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes currently serves as the Chief of Clinical Compliance and Quality Assurance at the University of Miami (UM) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and as Director of Clinical Research Trials Program. Prior to these roles, she was Medical Director of UM’s Behavioral Health Managed Care Organization and of the Psychiatry Department’s satellite UHealth Outpatient Clinical Practice. She is a dedicated and passionate faculty member within the University, serving on the Executive Committee of the Department of Psychiatry and was elected to represent her Department in the University’s Medical Group Faculty Council, in addition to her role as a voluntary faculty member of the Pediatric Ethics Committee.
Her current academic appointment at the University of Miami and she has earned several prestigious honors and awards during her career. She has been active in a variety of organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the International Congress for Women’s Mental Health where she advocated for a variety of women’s issues. Her passion for charity and children’s issues led her to co-found Sports For Healthy Kids, a not-for-profit organization aiming to address critical health and well-being needs of children in the South Florida community. In addition, Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes is the President and Co-Founder of Executive Cortex Consulting, where she offers executive coaching, organizational design and behavior, talent management, team leadership and dynamics services.
After receiving her medical degree in Europe from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes graduated from New York’s Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, earning Board certifications in General and Child Psychiatry. Complementing her academic and clinical career, she earned an Executive Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami, with specialty certification in Health Sector Management and Policy.
EUGENE W. ANDERSON
Eugene W. Anderson is dean of the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration.
Prior to joining the University of Miami, he was senior associate dean for academic affairs and the D. Maynard Phelps Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Anderson has more than a decade of senior leadership experience, having served at one of the world’s elite business schools and premier research universities; a deep understanding of the key trends affecting global business and what business schools must do to equip their graduates for the 21st century; a passion for forging strategic cross-disciplinary partnerships; and extensive experience creating and managing action-learning opportunities for students in business and social enterprises throughout the world.
As dean of the University of Miami School of Business, Anderson’s goal is to build ‘spires of excellence’ in areas such as international business, health care, entrepreneurship, and real estate. To do so, his strategic priorities include:
- Investing in faculty and high-impact intellectual capital
- Developing the right set of international learning opportunities and expanding the School’s global footprint
- Engaging business and community organizations
- Capitalizing on cross-disciplinary opportunities with other University of Miami units
Anderson’s service at the Ross School was extensive and he was deeply involved in every major change in the school over the past decade. He oversaw the design and successful launch of the Executive MBA program and served as its founding academic director. As associate dean for degree programs, he led the only successful revision of the MBA program in the last 25 years, revamped the BBA program from a 2-year to a 4-year format, and globalized the school’s flagship action-based learning program. He was also the school's first academic director for action-based learning, partnering with more than 100 corporations, startups, and non-governmental organizations with an emphasis on projects focused on growth, innovation, sustainability, and social enterprise. Most recently, he collaborated with Michigan’s College of Engineering to develop a joint Masters of Entrepreneurship.
Anderson’s academic research on marketing and business performance has been published extensively in academic marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Management Science and the Journal of Consumer Research, among others. He has served on the editorial boards of all the premier academic journals in marketing, including terms as area editor at both the Journal of Consumer Research and Marketing Science. He is a recipient of the FedEx Excellence in Service Research Award, the Andy Andrews Distinguished Service Award, and the Victor L. Bernard Faculty Teaching Leadership Award.
Anderson received his doctorate degree from the University of Chicago, and his master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all in business administration.
Anderson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended high school at the American Community School in London, England. He and his wife, attorney Sheryl Manning, have raised two children, a son and a daughter.
TERE BLANCA
Tere Blanca is the founder, president and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, Inc., the leading Miami based commercial property real estate advisory services and brokerage firm. Ms. Blanca has more than 25 years of experience in the South Florida real estate sector. Prior to launching Blanca Commercial Real Estate, she served as Sr. Managing Director for Cushman & Wakefield of Florida, Inc., where she led the Firm’s South Florida operations, achieving significant revenue growth and increased profitability.
Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Ms. Blanca held the position of Sr. Vice President at Codina Realty Services Inc. ONCOR International where she was consistently among the top producers during her 14-year tenure. She has participated in numerous projects from land acquisition through the master planning, design, construction, marketing, successful lease-up, and sale phases.
Ms. Blanca is a past chair of The Beacon Council, Chair-Elect of the Board of Directors of City Year Miami, and a member of the University of Miami’s President’s Council and School of Business Real Estate Advisory Board, and a member of the World Presidents’ Organization (WPO) Miami-Ft. Lauderdale Chapter and associate member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). She also serves on the ULI SE Florida/Caribbean Advisory Board.
Ms. Blanca has earned several honors from her peers and leading news outlets, including being named among 2013’s “Top 25 Women in Real Estate” by Commercial Property Executive, 2010’s “Women of Influence” by Real Estate Forum, 2010’s “Top Dealmakers of the Year” by the Daily Business Review, a 2007 Ultimate CEO by the South Florida Business Journal and 2009’s “Most Influential Business Women” by the South Florida Business Journal.
Ms. Blanca holds a bachelor’s of business administration with a concentration in international marketing and finance and an MBA from the University of Miami. A resident of South Florida since 1979, she lives in Coral Gables, Florida, with her husband and two daughters.
ANA CAMPO
Dr. Campo, a longstanding leader in child psychiatry and medical education, has played an extensive role in community service throughout her career. She has been the Director of Training for the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as well as the Director of Ambulatory Services and is currently holding the position of Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the UMMSM and Director of Medical Student Education for the Department of Psychiatry.
She has made a tremendous impact as an educator, earning numerous teaching awards and being inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, as well as the Iron Arrow Honor Society, one of the highest honors awarded at the University of Miami.
Dr. Campo is actively involved in several student-run organizations and serves as a faculty mentor for the Cushing Academic Society and for the Out of the Darkness Walk, sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Beyond the School of Medicine, Dr. Campo has been elected to leadership roles for the Florida Psychiatric Society serving as President and appointed as committee chair for the CME and Ethics Committees. At the American Psychiatric Association, she has served as Chair of the Committee on Minorities and Underrepresented Psychiatrists. She is highly respected by her colleagues for her longstanding dedication to the academic mission and has been invited as a speaker to numerous workshops and seminars.
ANITA CAVA, J.D.
Anita Cava is Professor of Business Law in the UM School of Business. Professor Cava’s research interests are the legal and ethical aspects of health administration as well as corporate/community engagement and business ethics. As part of the Legal, Ethical and Social Implications (ELSI) Workgroup at UM, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Project Health Design, she addressed conundrums being generated by electronic health information. Her article, Health Privacy in a Networked World: A Cyber-Patient’s Bill of Rights (with Patricia Abril), appears in the NORTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (2008). Publications resulting from research with colleagues in the medical school include Bioethics, Business Ethics and the Future of Healthcare (with K.W. Goodman), CAMBRIDGE QUARTERLY OF HEALTHCARE ETHICS (2008), and Disclosure of HIV Status to an Infected Child: Medical, psychological, ethical and legal perspectives on “super-vertical” transmission (with C.D. Mitchell, F.D. Armstrong, & K.W. Goodman), THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ETHICS (2008).
Scholarly work examining legal and ethical obligations of corporations includes Are Anti-Corruption Efforts Paying Off? International and National Measures In the Asia-Pacific Region and their Impact on India and Multinational Corporations (with B. Earle) , UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII LAW REVIEW (2009) and Integrative Social Contract Theory and Urban Prosperity Initiatives (with D. Mayer), JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS (2007). Previous publications appear in the BERKELEY JOURNAL OF EMPLOYMENT LAW, the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND LAW REVIEW, the SANTA CLARA LAW REVIEW, the ARKANSAS LAW REVIEW, and the BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY in addition to many other legal and business journals.
Over the past five years, Professor Cava has helped to launch the undergraduate UM Ethics Bowl, the MBA Consultants to Non-Profits Project, and a campus-wide Ethics in Film series, which is free and open to the public. She co-directs the Arsht Initiatives of UM Ethics Programs, which include a speaker series, funding for faculty/student research in “Ethics and Community” and a student Ethics Debate series on issues in sport and bioethics. In 2006, she taught a module on Corporate Social Responsibility at the American University in Paris.
Recently, the University of Miami Faculty Senate voted to give Cava the 2009 Outstanding Teaching Award, established in 2002 to recognize one faculty member’s “distinguished record in teaching” each year. She is the first person from the School of Business to be given this honor. In the spring of 2009, the UM Alumni Association presented Cava with the “Inside Out” Award, recognizing her efforts to bring alumni back to campus to engage in discussion about ethics. Professor Cava is also the recipient of several School of Business Administration Excellence in Teaching Awards and, in 1996, a University-wide Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
A frequent speaker on the topics of business ethics, corporate compliance and, more recently, the legal and ethical environment of electronic medical information, Professor Cava’s audiences have included Baptist Health System, Cordis Corporation, the American Council of Life Insurers, the Settlement Life Insurance Association, Palm Beach County Principals and the Institute for Non-Profit Management, as well as community groups, management trainees, and staff at several corporations and non-profit organizations.
Anita Cava received her B.A. with Distinction from Swarthmore College and her J.D. from New York University, where she was a Hays Fellow. Before joining the faculty, she practiced law in Washington, D.C. and Miami, primarily in the areas of employment, consumer and commercial litigation.
GABRIELA CORA, MD, MBA
Dr. Gaby Cora works with executives who need to hit the ground running. She's is an international speaker, corporate consultant, executive coach, medical doctor with an MBA, and TV personality.
She's the Wellness expert on Mission Makeover on Lifetime Television and she has appeared on national FOX, CNN, Lifetime (English); Telemundo, and Univision (Spanish). She's been a speaker and has consulted with The Coca-Cola Company, New York Life, The World Bank, Deloitte, The Department of Defense, and the pharmaceutical industry.
With diverse interests and experience, she's a former researcher at the prestigious National Institutes of Health and guest professor at the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami. She's been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, and Business Week. She's the the author of ExecutiveHealth.com's Leading Under Pressure (Career Press, 2010) and Alpha Female Leader (2008).
Dr. Gaby built a successful professional career while building a loving family. She lives in Miami with her husband of twenty-five years and their grown kids--plus their pets.
SYLVIA DAUNERT, PHARMD, MS, PHD
Dr. Daunert is the Lucille P. Markey Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Miller School of Medicine and the Associate Director of the JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute of the University of Miami.
Prior to joining the University of Miami, Dr. Daunert was the Gill Eminent Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Daunert was also a Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts & Sciences and a University of Kentucky Research Professor.
Among others, she is a Fulbright Scholar, an ELAM Fellow, and the recipient of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry van Slyke Research Award, the National Science Foundation-CAREER Award, the Cottrell-Scholars Award, the Lilly Analytical Faculty Award, the American Chemical Society A. F. Findeis Award, the National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award, the Bill Barfield Award from the Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute and the Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize.
Dr. Daunert is Editor of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Executive Editor of Analytical Biochemistry, Annual Reviews in Analytical Chemistry, and member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of several journals. She serves in the Scientific Advisory Boards of professional, governmental, as well as private institutions. Dr. Daunert’s research interests are in Bionanotechnology. Specifically, her group designs new molecular diagnostic tools and biosensors based on genetically engineered proteins and cells that find applications in the biomedical, environmental, and pharmaceutical fields. Additionally, the research of the group focuses on the development of targeted and responsive drug delivery systems. Dr. Daunert’s work has been featured in over 250 publications, patents, and highlighted by the scientific media and popular press.
ALDO R. DEFILIPPI
Since 2002, Mr. Aldo Defilippi has been Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce of Peru (AmCham Peru). He was General Manager of Banco Industrial del Peru, Banco de Comercio and Banco Banex, Chief Financial Manager of Ferreyros (Caterpillar Dealer) and General Manager of Apoyo S.A., in Lima; Executive Director of BLADEX, in Panama; Manager of the Investment Banking Group of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), in Washington; Director of the Economic Studies Division of INTAL (Inter-American Development Bank), in Argentina, and Economist of the World Bank, in Washington. Directly prior to joining AmCham Peru, Mr. Defilippi chaired the National Commission on Foreign Investment and Technology (CONITE) in Lima and was Manager of ProInversión.
At present, he is Chairman of the Peruvian Cancer Foundation (FPC) and Association of Binational Chambers of Commerce of Peru (ACCB), and member of the board of directors of Ferrerycorp, Microsoft Peru, Amrop, Aeropuertos del Perú (ADP), United Way, Nesst Fund, Peru 2021, Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC) in Peru; and Association of American Chambers of Commerce of Latin America (AACCLA) in Washington and Ana G. Mendes Universitary System in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Instituto de Acción Empresarial (IPAE), Centrum Católica and Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas. Mr. Defilippi attended the CEO’s Program at Kellogg’s Graduate School of Management, at Northwestern University, in Chicago. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, from Boston University. He earned two MAs from Boston University, in Economic Policy and in Economic Development. Mr. Defilippi studied Economics at the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru, from which he graduated with honors.
REBECCA MACMILLAN FOX PH.D.
Rebecca MacMillan Fox is chief of staff for University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala and is dean of UM’s Division of Continuing and International Education (DCIE). Fox has had a distinguished career in education, from K-12 through graduate school.
As dean of Continuing and International Education, she leads a division with a primary mission of providing educational programs to meet the needs of nontraditional learners, including pre-college, part-time, international, and adult students. Prior to her appointment as dean, Fox led the division for a year on an interim basis, spearheading a reorganization effort that will result in a more focused, mission-oriented unit that cooperates closely with UM schools and colleges.
Headquartered at Allen Hall on the Coral Gables campus, DCIE provides access to the public and degree-seeking students through short courses, seminars, workshops, lectures, and special events. In addition to coordinating weekend credit courses and providing advising services for returning adult students, the division also is an agent for outreach in the community, serving the corporate world with professional certificates, continuing education, and workforce training. Its Intensive English Program helps prepare a certain population of students to be successful academically at UM or other universities.
Fox came to UM five years ago from the University of Rochester, where she served in various roles including senior associate vice president for University Advancement and dean of College Advancement. Previously, she served as dean of the College at William Smith College and head of school at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. She holds a doctorate in French Literature from Bryn Mawr College.
PASCAL J. GOLDSCHMIDT
Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., an internationally renowned cardiologist and cardiovascular researcher, is Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Miami Health System (UHealth), which includes three hospitals and more than two dozen outpatient facilities in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and Collier counties, with more than 1,200 physicians and 8,000 staff.
Since his arrival in April 2006, Dean Goldschmidt has overseen tremendous growth on the medical campus in Miami, with the November 2007 purchase of Cedars Medical Center, which is now University of Miami Hospital, the flagship hospital of UHealth. He also established the first allopathic internal medicine residency training program in Palm Beach County.
New global health clinical and research initiatives include the Global Institute for Community Health and Development and the International Medicine Institute. It was through the Global Institute for Community Health and Development that Dean Goldschmidt was able to launch and oversee the medical relief effort in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. A team of Miller School physicians, nurses and staff was the first to arrive in Port-au-Prince, and within nine days of the earthquake the University of Miami Hospital in Haiti was open and treating patients.
The research enterprise has also grown significantly since 2006 with the creation of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute at UM (BioNIUM), and the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute. All three institutes are headed by world-renowned researchers.
In October 2008, Dr. Goldschmidt received the inaugural Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences from the Ohio State University Heart and Vascular Center. The prize is awarded biennially to an international leader in the clinical sciences of cardiovascular medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, or the basic sciences of molecular or cellular cardiology.
Dr. Goldschmidt, whose research applies genomics and cell therapy to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease, was previously chairman of the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Before taking the chairman’s role, he served as chief of Duke’s Division of Cardiology.
Before joining the Duke faculty in 2000, he was director of cardiology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, where he built the Heart and Lung Research Institute and launched a heart hospital.
A native of Belgium, Dr. Goldschmidt received his medical degree from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and completed residency and fellowship training in Brussels at Erasme Academic Hospital and in the United States at Union Memorial Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University. Following his training at Hopkins, he served as an assistant, then associate professor in the university’s Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Department of Pathology until 1997.
YOLANDA AUZA GOMEZ
As of January 2006, Yolanda took over responsibility as General Manager for LACSA, the region made up of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Colombia, where she has achieved a high-growth profitable consolidated operation, with strong leverage on efficient and shared operations among the eight countries. In March 2010 Latin Business Chronicle selected her in the Top 25 Businesswomen in Latin American. In 2011 has selected again as one of Latin-American’s 50 Top Businesswomen.
She is a member of the Board of Directors, of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce and of Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), UNISYS de Venezuela, Excellence in Justice Corporation. She is CoChair of Women Corporate Director Colombian Chapter. She has also served on other boards, such as the CEA Council of American Enterprises for 3 years and t he Colombian Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications for 2 years. She is a member of the Consulting Council of the School of Engineering of Universidad de los Andes and of the Consulting Committee of the Colombian Central Bank (Banco de la República). She is a Founding Member of the Ayuda por Colombia (“Help for Colombia”) Foundation. She is a member of the consultative board “Amigos por Naturaleza” for The Nature Conservancy in Colombia
During 14 years with Unisys Colombia she obtained experience in the Consulting and Services area. In August 2001, she was appointed President of Unisys de Colombia, a position in which she has been responsible for the leadership of a growing business. In November of the same year she was appointed General Manager for the Andean Region with responsibility over Venezuela, Colombia and Peru.
Yolanda obtained her Systems Engineering degree at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá) in 1981 and took part in the Senior Management study program at the same university.
MERC?JORDl M.D.,PH.D.,MBA
Dr. Mercé Jordá is a 1983 graduate of the Autonomous University of Barcelona School of Medicine in Barcelona, Catalonia Spain. From 1984 to 1988 she completed her residency in Anatomic Pathology and her Ph.D. at the University of Seville, School of Medicine in Seville, Spain. She later joined the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida where she did her residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and completed her fellowships in Cytopathology.
She was the Medical Director of Laboratory Services for UMHC/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1998 to 2010 and later Chief and Medical Director of Laboratory Services at the University of Miami Hospital from 2008 to 2010.
In 2012 Dr. Jordá obtained her Master of Business Administration, specializing in Health Sector Management and Policy from the University of Miami. She is currently Professor of Pathology and Director of Genitourinary Pathology Services. Her area of interest and research include genitourinary and breast diseases and cytopathology. Dr. Jorda is a member of the editorial boards of five major pathology and cancer journals and she is author and co-author of 115 articles, 5 books and chapters.
ONELIA G. LAGE M.D.
Dr. Lage is Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Director of Adolescent Medical Education and Community Health in the Division of Adolescent Medine/Department of Pediatrics at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine (UMMSOM).
She has been appointed by 3 Governors to serve on the Florida Board of Medicine since 2005 to the present. In that role she has chaired the Rules and Legislative Committee, Expert Witness Committee and Dietetics and Nutrition council as well as served on Credentials, Probation, Education, Pain Management, and Surgical Care Committees. In 2009 she was elected by her peers to serve as Vice Chair and again in 2010 as Chair.
She was the first Hispanic woman and first pediatrician to serve in this distinguished position and one of only 3 women in the history of the Florida State Medical Board according to records. Dr. Lage has a Healthcare Risk-Manager certification. In addition she is also a member of the Minority Women’s Health Panel of Experts of the Office of Women’s Health/U.S. Health and Human Services and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Medical Association.
Dr. Lage completed her Pediatric training at Metropolitan Hospital Center’s New York Medical College Program and her fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at the UMMSOM/Jackson Memorial Hospital. She received her medical degree from Universidad Central del Este, D.R (graduate of honor commendation) and A.A. degree from Miami-Dade College with highest honors and distinction. She was board certified in Pediatrics in 1993 and is recertified in Adolescent Medicine (2008).
Dr. Lage has been a member of the National Hispanic Medical Association since its inception in 1994. She has served on its national advisory board and membership committees and was selected as a Leadership Fellow in 2004. She has represented the NHMA on the National Coalition for Adolescent Health, AMA Adolescent Health Disparities Workgroup, NAACP, Harvard Latino Health Conference and multiple other events.
She has held numerous leadership positions including President of the Greater Miami Pediatric Society, University of Miami Medical Group Leadership Council ;UMMSOM Institute for Women’s Health Leadership Team and UM Faculty Council; and Co-Chair of the Miami-Dade County School Health Advisory Committee. She also serves as a Pediatric hospitalist at the Bascolm Palmer Eye Institute and a Childrens Medical Services Consultant in addition to her principal clinical role as an Adolescent medicine specialist and referral source to community pediatricians.
She has been actively involved in the education and training of medical students particularly minority students and pediatric residents. She has served as mentor and faculty supervisor to hundreds of Harrington Program Latin American students since 1990 and is Faculty advisor for the Hispanic American Medical Student Association at UMMSOM and the Pre-Med Association of Latino Students at the University of Miami (PALS). She serves on the UMMSOM admissions committee and the Jackson Health Systems pediatric residency recruitment committee.
Dr. Lage’s federally funded research has centered around minority adolescents and young adults particularly pregnancy prevention in adolescents with chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell and HIV and mental health issues in at risk youth. She has presented research nationally and has multiple abstracts/publications. She has received the Miami-Dade County Volunteer Physician of the Year Award for her service at a faith based clinic with undocumented Hispanic immigrants and has been selected as Super Doctor and Top Doctors’ in Florida as well as Florida’s leading women in Medicine. In 2010, she was inducted into the Miami Dade College Alumni Hall of Fame and the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor attained at the University of Miami. She also received the National Hispanic Medical Association’s Leadership Award in 2011.
Her greatest accomplishment and fulfillment stems from her faith and her family with husband Eugenio of 32 years, son Daniel a Harvard graduate 2011 Rhodes Scholar and soon to be Harvard medical student and daughter Adrianne a freshman at Wellesley College. Her passion lies in helping minority young women achieve their ultimate potential in body, mind and spirit and preparing the next generation of physicians and pediatricians.
MARIA-TERESA LEPELEY
Maria-Teresa Lepeley is the Founder President & CEO of the Global Institute for Quality Education – GIQE, United States and Instituto Global de Calidad en Educación – IGCE of Chile and Latin America. In her book “Management and Quality in Education. A Model for Assessment” (McGraw-Hill, 2001) she developed the Model of “Sustainable Quality 21st Century in Education®” to help educators at all levels to assess needs, performance, and quality standards in educational institutions in synch with the business criteria used by National Quality Awards in over 60 countries today.
GIQE – IGCE uses the Lepeley Model in its executive training programs, Professional Certification in “Leadership for Sustainable Quality in Education®” and the Institutional Certification “Quality 21st Century in Education®” for institutions of all levels that seek sustainable quality standards based on continuous improvement of students achievement. Her book is used in education management courses and programs in universities across Latin America. Lepeley is a prolific researcher and writer and has published papers and book chapters as author and coauthor in quality management, leadership, and innovation in business education in the USA, Europe, and Latin America.
She has extensive experience in National Quality Awards, including Member of the Board of Examiner of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award of the United States www.baldrige.gov Award administered by the US Department of Commerce and the National Institute for Standards and Technology NIST. (The Baldrige Award for business corporations was established in 1987 and the Baldrige. National Quality Award in Education was established in 2001). Senior Examiner of the National Quality Award in Chile www.chilecalidad.cl and has been Leader of Quality Teams responsible to evaluate performance and quality standards in business corporations and government agencies that have won the Chilean National Quality Award. The original Chilean NQA’s Guideline Book for public agencies was developed based on the Lepeley Quality Management Model. She has been Expert Consultant and Conference Speaker in programs and events organized by the National Quality Awards in Colombia and Ecuador.
Maria-Teresa Lepeley has held academic and professional affiliations with the Academy of Management, the Ibero-American Academy of Management, the Ibero-American Association of Entrepreneurial Incubation and Development, American Society for Quality ASQ, Academy of International Business, United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), National Association of Business Economics (NABE, among others. In the 1990’s she was President of the Miami Business Economists Association and Director of the Miami Chile – USA Chamber of Commerce, and member of the Hartford Connecticut Business Economists Association in between 2001 and 2004.
She is a research paper reviewer for the Academy of Management USA in the Divisions of Management Education, Entrepreneurship, and Gender. She has been Visiting Professor and Speaker in Management for Sustainable Quality and Educational Leadership in universities in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, the World Bank and the Organization of American States OEA.
Maria Teresa has held leadership positions in the University of Connecticut, as Director of the International Management Institute and Adjunct Professor of International Business Negotiation in the Business School. In the Universidad de Chile, Business School, Department of Economics as Director of Executive Continuing Education Programs and Adjunct Professor of International Business Negotiation. She was President of the Entrepreneurial College Instituto de Formación Empresarial en Santiago, Chile, where she created the first program of Entrepreneurship for Women in the country in 1998.
She has M.A. in Economics from the University of Miami, with specializations in Economic Development, Human Capital for Sustainable Development. Economics and Economics of Education and wrote her Master’s Thesis in Economics “The Impact of Higher Education on Economic Development. The Case of Chile during the Transition to a Free Market Economy”. She has M.S. in Education from the University of Miami with specialization in Higher Education Management and Leadership. She has B.S. in Education and English from Universidad de Santiago, Chile. She wrote the undergraduate thesis: “Difficulties Spanish students confront when learning English Intonation, Rhythm, and Pronunciation”.
In the late 1970 Maria-Teresa worked in an internship at UM’s Vice Presidency for Student Affairs, where she conducted the first comprehensive research on the needs of International students and developed a report that expedited the deployment of UM internationalization project.
HILIT F. MECHABER, MD, FACP
Dr. Hilit Mechaber is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM). She received her BS (1992) and MD (1995) degrees from the University of Miami, and was a member of the Honors Program in Medicine. Dr. Mechaber completed her post-graduate training in Primary Care Internal Medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center in 1998, and returned to her alma mater to join the faculty at UMMSM in 1998. She holds appointments in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine and Community Health. She has been a core member of the teaching faculty of the Generalist Education in Medicine programs, and continues to teach medical students in their multidisciplinary ambulatory care clerkship, as well as the physical diagnosis programs.
Dr. Mechaber’s professional niche is in the area of career development and work-life balance. In addition to practicing academic general internal medicine, she directs the Office of Professional Development and Career Guidance for medical students. She and her team assist students in their selection of medical specialties, and provide mentoring throughout multiple transitions in school and beyond. Dr. Mechaber has been actively involved in the national dialogue promoting personal-professional balance and flexible career options for physicians with a focus on the academic medicine workforce. She has been an invited keynote speaker to national audiences, and has led a multitude of national workshops and presentations on the topic, as well as published in this domain. She was invited to serve on the Association of Specialty Professors National Task Force on Part-Time Careers. She also serves as the institutional representative to the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Women in Medicine and Science, and is currently the Vice Chair of the Southern Group on Student Affairs. Dr. Mechaber also enjoys her role as the UMMSM American Medical Women’s Association Chapter Faculty Advisor.
In 2008, Dr. Mechaber was appointed assistant dean for student services, and in 2011 associate dean, and in this capacity she creates and oversees programs and resources available for medical student support and well-being. She serves on the National Advisory Committee for the AAMC Careers in Medicine program. She also continues to teach and mentor medical students and junior faculty. Dr. Mechaber values her role as a medical educator and has been recognized by her students and faculty alike with multiple teaching and community awards for her efforts.
NILDA (NENA) P. PERAGALLO MONTANO
Nilda (Nena) Peragallo Montano is Dean and Professor, University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies. Dean Peragallo Montano is a nationally and internationally recognized nursing scientist specializing in health disparities and culturally competent interventions with minority populations. She has devoted her 35+ year research and academic career to improving the health status of minorities and other medically underserved populations. Peragallo Montano has a solid record of successful competitive research funding. Most recently, she received funding for a 5-year grant (2012-2017) from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) to continue her work as Director of the University of Miami Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research (El Centro), which Peragallo Montano originally established in 2007.
Peragallo Montano’s policy and leadership roles include past service on the NIH/NIMHD Advisory Council and co-Chairmanship of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Health Project Workforce Committee. She is past president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and founding co-editor of Hispanic Healthcare International. In 2012, she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program, and to the Board of Directors of IntraHealth International, a global health nonprofit organization that champions the critical role of health workers. She was also chosen by HispanicBusiness as one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders of 2012.
Dean Peragallo Montano has authored numerous professional publications and is a sought-after speaker in her field. She has mentored a number of Hispanic scientists who are now published authors and advancing in positions of leadership, including one dean of a school of nursing. She holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the international honor society of nursing.
CHARLES B. NEMEROFF, MD, PHD
Dr. Nemeroff was born in New York City in 1949 and educated in the New York City Public School System. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1970, he enrolled in graduate school at Northeastern University and received a Master's degree in Biology in 1973. He received his MD and PhD (Neurobiology) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His residency training in psychiatry was conducted at both the University of North Carolina and at Duke University, after which he joined the faculty of Duke University.
At Duke, he was Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and Chief of the Division of Biological Psychiatry before relocating in 1991 to Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as the Reunette W. Harris Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences until 2008. In 2009, he joined the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine as the Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
His research has concentrated on the biological basis of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, including affective disorders, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. His clinical research is focused on the use of genetic, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging, and neurochemical methods to comprehensively understand the pathophysiology of depression. In recent years, he has uncovered the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate the increased risk for depression in victims of child abuse. He has also contributed to seminal findings in the burgeoning area of research concerning the relationship of depression to cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Nemeroff has received numerous honors during his career, including the A.E. Bennett Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry (1979), the Judith Silver Memorial Young Scientist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (1989), both the Kempf Award in Psychobiology (1989) and the Samuel Hibbs Award (1990) from the American Psychiatric Association (APAP), and the Gold Medal Award and the Research Prize (1996) from the Society of Biological Psychiatry. In 1993, he was awarded the Edward J. Sachar Award from Columbia University and the Edward A. Strecker Award from the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital.
In 1997, he was the recipient of the Gerald Klerman Award from the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Disorders Association and the Selo Prize from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression. In 1998, he was the recipient of the Research Award in Mood Disorders from the American College of Psychiatrists, and in 1999 he received the Bowis Award from the same organization. He was awarded the Menninger Prize in 2000 from the American College of Physicians, the Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2001, and the Burlingame Prize from the Institute of Living in 2002. In 2006, he received the American Psychiatric Association Research Mentoring Award and Vestermark Award, and in 2008 The Judson Marmor Award for Research. Dr. Nemeroff served as the Editor-in-Chief of Neuropsychopharmacology (2001-2006).
With Alan F. Schatzberg, MD, he is co-Editor of the Textbook of Psychopharmacology, now in its fourth edition, published by the American Psychiatric Press Inc. He has served on the Mental Health Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Biomedical Research Council for NASA. He is past President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American College of Psychiatrists. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He is chair of the APA Committee on Research Training. In 2002 he was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
MARTA B. RONDON
Psychiatrist. Assistant professor at Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University (Department of Medicine, Unit of Psychiatry and Mental Health). Visiting professor at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and Universida Federico Villareal. Attending psychiatrist at Instituto Peruano de Paternidad Responsible (a branch of IPPF), where she is also an advisor in the AMA project which endeavors to improve services to women experiencing unwanted pregnancy.
Founder of the Grupo Impulsor de la Reforma, and member of the steering committee (2008 to present) a multidisciplinary group that endeavors to improve the situation of mental health care in Peru by means of advocacy and continuing education to mental health providers.
Consultant for the Ombudsman’s Office, the Pan American Health Organization and Promsex.
Founder of the Peruvian Association for Women’s Mental Health.
President of the Peruvian Psychiatric Association for the period 2005-2006.
Deputy Dean, Peruvian College of Physicians, 2008-2009.
Chair, Section on Women’s Mental Health, World Psychiatric Association, 2005-2008.
Member of the Organizing Committee, International Association of Women’s Mental Health, 199-2001, where she has served as Secretary for the period 2008- 2011 and President Elect from 2011 to 2013. Currently she is President of IAWMH.
Dr Rondon´s interests are the social determinants of women’s mental health, the management of depression and other common psychiatric disorders in a primary care setting and the human rights of women and those of people with mental disabilities and is the author of several articles, book chapters and books on these topics.
She has been the editor of Mujer y Salud Mental (1997 – 2000)
FRANCES ALDRICH SEVILLA-SACASA
Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa is a financial services executive having led premier US and international wealth management organizations with global firms such as Bankers Trust Company, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Bank of America.
She currently serves as chief executive officer of Banco Itau Europa International, a Miami-based international subsidiary of Banco Itau which serves high-net-worth clients from Latin America. Prior to her role at Itau, Frances served as president and chief executive officer of U.S. Trust Company and president of U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Frances was also appointed interim dean of University of Miami's School of Business Administration in 2011 and later served in an advisory capacity for the university.
Frances has received numerous recognitions, including: The Wall Street Journal - The 50 Women to Watch and Hispanic Business Magazine - 20 Elite Women. She holds a B.A. from The University of Miami and an M.B.A. in International Management from The Thunderbird School of Global Management. A native of Miami, Frances serves on corporate and non-for-profit boards, and is active in philanthropic and community activities. She has been married for 29 years and has three children.
JUDY SCHAECHTER, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Schaechter is interim Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Her job is to make certain that all members of the Department of Pediatrics, including students, staff, and the nearly 140 UMiami Pediatric faculty – pediatricians, specialists, behavioral health experts, researchers, educators, psychologists, speech, language, hearing, PT/OT therapists, everyone a child needs – are able to do what they do best, so that the future of our children and their health is guaranteed.
Judy practices pediatrics and teaches, caring for children at the Mailman Center for Child Development and Holtz Children’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial Medical Center. She is a general pediatrician with special interests in adolescence, prevention, education, and community health.
In 2000, she founded the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Miami, educating more than 20,000 families and child service practitioners annually regarding injury prevention in 3 languages. Injury Free has maintained a publically-accessible injury surveillance system for over a decade and continues to train parents, law enforcement, firefighters, and educators in home, water, and traffic safety. Injury Free was part of a pilot which led to the Centers for Disease Control’s National Violent Death Reporting System and recognized the significant undercounting of unintentional child firearm deaths. In November 2012, Dr. Schaechter was elected president of the national organization of Injury Free Coalition for Kids, with over 42 sites across the Americas.
Dr. Schaechter is an investigator with Florida’s NIH National Children’s Study (NCS), concentrating on health disparities and health literacy for Hispanic mothers in Miami-Dade County and assisting with community engagement in rural Baker County. She has advanced the Pediatric Mobile Clinic program, which provides comprehensive health, mental health, and case management to uninsured children and families in South Florida. Dr. Schaechter is the appointed child health policy expert on the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation Board, serves as the Board’s Treasurer, is a member of the Executive Committee, and also chairs the Finance Committee and Satisfaction Committee. Judy has been with the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet since its inception and is a Senior Advisor to the Florida Children’s Movement. She served on the Florida Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and chaired the Health and Nutrition Committee. As Chair of The Children’s Trust’s Health Committee, she initiated a public-private partnership which placed nurses and social workers in 165 schools, enrolled families in health insurance, and established a voluntary newborn home visitation program.
Dr. Schaechter has recently presented at national conferences on a range of child health issues including adolescent brain development, bullying, eating disorders, firearms, social media, vaccines through the life span, and violence prevention. She has been recognized for her work in injury prevention and as a family and community advocate. Judy has been happily married to Roberto for nearly twenty years. Together they raise two children, dance, run, and walk two dogs.
CELESTE SCHENCK
Celeste Schenck is the twelfth president of The American University of Paris and the first to rise to its leadership from the inside. She graduated in the third class of women at Princeton University, then received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Brown.
She has published widely on women’s autobiography, poetry, critical theory and educational and pedagogical issues. At Barnard College, she was founder and co-editor of two national series, the Barnard New Women Poets Prize, published by Beacon Press, and Reading Women Writing, an imprimatur of Cornell University Press publishing international feminist literary and cultural criticism. More recently she began working on postcolonial fiction and international development issues, co-editing, while a professor at AUP, two critical anthologies on women, culture, and development practices.
Celeste Schenck also founded, provided leadership, and secured funding for AMICAL, a consortium of American universities across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The organization, without so much as a Memorandum of Understanding, stretches across 26 institutions, 21 countries, and 16 languages. She currently writes and speaks on issues of higher education and women’s leadership.
PENNY S. SHAFFER, PH.D.
Penny Shaffer is the Florida Blue market president for South Florida. In this role, Shaffer is responsible for the company’s business operations in an 8-county region from the Keys north to the Treasure Coast.
Prior to joining BCBSF in 2006, Shaffer served as vice president of Global Services for the Americas region at AT&T. During her 26-year career at AT&T, Shaffer held various positions in sales, service, quality management and global operations. In addition to U.S. postings, she has lived and worked in Madrid, Dublin and Mexico City.
Throughout her career, Shaffer has been active in community and professional organizations. She is immediate Past Chair of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, a member of the executive committee of the Beacon Council, secretary of the Dade Community Foundation, on the Governor’s Council of Broward Alliance, immediate past chair of the board of the Miami-Dade College Foundation and secretary of the board for The Foundation for New Education Initiatives of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She is also a board member of The Commonwealth Institute and the United Way of Miami-Dade. In addition, she’s a member of the University of Miami Dean’s Advisory Board for the School of Business as well as the International Women’s Forum and the Orange Bowl Committee.
Shaffer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Frostburg University and an International Executive Master of Business Administration from Fordham University. She also holds a Ph.D. in International Business Administration from Kennedy-Western University.
MARIA LAMAS SHOJAEE, MBA
Maria Lamas Shojaee is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Miami, as well as CEO of the Shoma Group. She has been a member of the University of Miami Board of Trustees and currently participates on various University committees, including:
- UHealth/University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Visiting Committee
- Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Supportive Oncology Services Committee
- School of Nursing and Health Studies Visiting Committee
- School of Communication Visiting Committee
Shojaee is Co-Chair of the Momentum2 campaign for the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies. She also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member of the School of Nursing and Health Studies and as invited guest lecturer for the graduate programs in her area of interest, Integrative Healthcare. Shojaee is a passionate advocate for integrating Eastern Medicine modalities with Western Medicine to better manage disease symptoms by addressing a person’s body, mind, and soul. She participated in a prominent panel of experts speaking on the subject of “Advances in Integrative Healthcare: Impact on Global Health Issues” at the 2011 University of Miami Global Business Forum. She is also a national board member of “Friends of the Orphans”, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children in Latin America and the Caribbean. Shojaee holds an MBA in Health Sector Management and Policy degree from the University of Miami School of Business Administration.
KATY SORENSON
Katy Sorenson is the President and CEO of the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, a program to educate elected officials at the state and local level in the important issues of governance. Sorenson’s commitment to civic activism began in 1965 after attending a civil rights demonstration with her cousins, and it continued throughout her career as an elected official.
In 1994, Sorenson was first elected to represent District 8 on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners after defeating the incumbent in a grassroots campaign. Her southern district included more than 170,000 residents of diverse backgrounds, and it encompassed three cities and a significant portion of the agricultural lands of the County. As a commissioner, she was an outspoken advocate for human rights and equality for all residents, for the environment and managed growth, regional cooperation, child welfare issues, and support for the arts. Her proudest achievements were defeating plans for an ill-conceived airport at Homestead Air Reserve Base, a site located between Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, and sponsoring and passing an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance which guaranteed civil rights to gay and lesbian citizens.
Sorenson was often recognized for her excellence in office, receiving the first ever Marjory Stoneman Douglas Environmental Award from the Friends of the Everglades, the “Elected Official of the Year” award from the Dade Cultural Alliance, the “Public Official of the Year” from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Champion for Children Award, the Women of Impact Award, and the Herbert Hoover award as Conservationist of the Year, among many others.
She served as Vice Chair of the Commission from 2002-2004, was on the executive committee of the South Florida Regional Planning Council, and was Chair of the South Florida Regional Transportation Organization. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Counties. In 2004, she was selected to attend Harvard University’s Senior Executive Program in State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government, which provided her with the inspiration to start the Good Government Initiative.
Active in the community, Sorenson currently chairs the Citizens Advisory Committee for Miami-Dade County’s General Obligation Bond program; co-chairs the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at Florida International University; and serves on the boards of directors of the Tropical Audubon Society, the CLEO Institute, WLRN Circle of Friends, the International Women’s Forum Miami chapter and Florida Women of Achievement. She is also on the advisory board of ReServe Miami.
Born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee, Sorenson received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She served as a legislative aide to Illinois State Senator Dawn Clark Netsch, as a political consultant, and as the executive director of California Women Lawyers Bar Association. She has been married to Janis Dzelzkalns, M.D. since 1978 and they have two adult children, Emma and Arnie. She lives in Pinecrest with her husband and Inga, their cat.
SANDRA M. UPEGUI, ESQ
Sandra M. Upegui, Assistant General Counsel, joined the University of Miami General Counsel's Office in October 2008. Ms. Upegui was a partner with Shutts & Bowen, LLP focusing her practice in various industries, including insurance and healthcare. She is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Ms. Upegui received her J.D. in 1999 from Florida State University College of Law, magna cum laude, where she was an active member of the Moot Court Team and attended a summer program hosted by Tulane University and the University of Siena, Italy, which included a special course study with former United States Chief Justice Rehnquist. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs cum laude.
Since joining the University of Miami, Sandra Upegui has worked on various healthcare matters, including HIPAA privacy and security, human subject research, organ donation, patient consent, and managed care contracting. Sandra Upegui also provides legal support on a variety of litigation matters, including software disputes, privacy complaints, and responding to government investigation subpoenas.
Ms. Upegui is also a member of the Board of Directors for Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency (LAORA), the organ procurement organization in South Florida. She also volunteers as a mentor with Educate Tomorrow, a local non-profit organization helping foster youth transition on to higher education.
AYMEE DORIS VALDIVIA
Aymee Doris Valdivia is an associate in the International and Cross-Border Transactions Team of Holland & Knight's Business Group. Ms. Valdivia focuses her practice on corporate and international law, representing foreign and domestic clients in joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and a broad variety of commercial transactions. Her background and legal education in both common and civil law systems provide Ms. Valdivia with the ability to advise clients on transactions and projects involving multiple jurisdictions, legal systems and cultures.
She has been advising U.S. clients on issues that arise under agency, sales representation, distribution, franchise, or management/administration agreements in Latin America, with a special focus on the contractual relationships with the clients’ domestic counterparts and the existence and potential implications of protectionist laws in several Latin American jurisdictions that provide local parties with protections beyond the contract terms.
Ms. Valdivia has experience in international commercial arbitrations in which she has served as assistant to one of the parties or the arbitrator. Throughout her practice, Ms. Valdivia has worked directly with in-house counsel, as well as with foreign outside counsel in serving clients on multijurisdictional projects.
Ms. Valdivia received formal education in both common law and civil law legal systems and graduated with honors from the University of Miami Law School and the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana. She is a native of Cuba and has an in-depth understanding of the business culture in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Valdivia practiced law in Cuba for several years, which provided her with extensive knowledge of the Cuban legal system, especially in the areas of foreign investment, financing, regulatory compliance and immigration.
ELAINE VAN DER PUT
Elaine Van der Put, Ph. D, M.S., M.S.P.H., currently holds the position of Chief Strategy Officer for the University of Miami Miller School Of Medicine and has over twenty years of experience at the Executive level for multinational corporations operating in Latin America as well as in Academic Medical Centers.
She has held positions with responsibility for strategic planning, marketing planning, communications, financial planning, budget planning and control for companies such as IBM, Coca-Cola and BAT (British American Tobacco). Her major strengths are analytical thinking and strategy elaboration. Dr Van der Put received her scientific training as an Immunologist at the University of Miami, FL, USA and was involved in basic science research in the field of aging B cell development for several years.
Dr Van der Put also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a M.S. in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in Finance and a Masters in Science in Public Health.
ANA M. VIAMONTE ROS, M.D.
Dr. Ana M. Viamonte Ros is the Director of Medical Staff Development for Baptist Health International. Dr Viamonte was Florida’s first State Surgeon General and the first woman and Cuban American to serve as head of the Florida department of Health from 2007-2011. She was charged by Florida’s Governor, The Honorable Charlie Crist, to act as the state’s leading advocate for wellness and disease prevention. Dr. Viamonte Ros’ primary responsibility was to oversee one of the nation’s most comprehensive and complex public’s health care systems and Florida’s largest single clinical enterprise. Approximately 20,000 employees serve in Florida’s 67 counties, with more than 300 clinical delivery sites.
She is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities Health and Society at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University (FIU) and Professional Development Academic Director with responsibility for teaching, evaluating curricula, and improving academic programming at an institution whose vision centers on leadership in developing physicians to work in communities and discovering innovations in the science of medicine and delivery of patient care.
Dr. Viamonte Ros graduated from the University of Miami Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. She is committed to community service, serving as a Board Member on the Camillus Health Concern, and volunteering on numerous medical mission trips with “Health Through Walls” throughout the Caribbean.
PATRICIA D. WHITE
Patricia D. White is the University of Miami School of Law's eleventh dean. Her decade of service as dean of the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, prior to joining the Miami school, elevated her to national recognition as a leader in legal education and made her the longest serving dean in the history of that college, as well as the first woman to serve as a law dean in Arizona.
In 2013, The National Jurist magazine named Dean White the sixth most influential person in legal education in the nation, and the top woman on the list.
Dean White was cited by the well-known legal blogger Brian Leiter as one of nine transformative law deans in the first decade of this century. Dean White has won many awards, including the 2012 Equal Justice Leadership Award, given by Legal Services of Greater Miami for her commitment to public service, and the Judge Learned Hand Award for distinguished public service, from the Arizona chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Since becoming the dean of Miami Law in 2009, Dean White has continued her longstanding commitment to public service by founding Legal Corps, a unique fellowship program that places Miami Law graduates in non-profit and public sector organizations nationwide. Under Dean White's leadership, the number of clinics at Miami Law has more than doubled, bringing the total to nine, and in 2011 Miami Law was honored by the American Bar Association Law Student Division with the Judy M. Weightman Memorial Public Interest Award, in recognition of the law school's strong commitment to public interest through the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center.
Dean White was educated at the University of Michigan, where she received degrees in philosophy and law (B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974, M.A. 1974). While attending law school, she was also a graduate student in philosophy and an associate editor of the law review. She began her legal practice in Washington D.C. at Steptoe & Johnson and then moved to Caplin & Drysdale. Dean White was hired onto the Georgetown University Law Faculty in 1979, and in 1988 joined her alma mater, the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, she was of counsel to the Detroit firm Bodman, Longley & Dahling, and served for a year as Tax Advisor to the Economic Study Committee of Major League Baseball. In 1994, she joined the law faculty at the University of Utah, and was of counsel to Parsons, Behle & Latimer. She is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia, Michigan and Utah, and is an elected Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
During her career, Dean White has worked in the areas of tax law, the legal profession, torts, bioethics, philosophy of law, and trusts and estates, and has published in prominent law and bioethics journals. To all her endeavors, Dean White brings an impressive combination of practical experience, dedicated professionalism and philosophical acuity.