Eduardo J. Padrón
| Eduardo Padrón | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
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| President of Miami Dade College | |
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Assumed office 1995 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 26, 1944 Santiago, Cuba |
| Alma mater | University of Florida |
| Profession | Educator |
Eduardo José Padrón (born June 26, 1944) is the president of Miami Dade College (MDC). An economist by training, Padrón earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. After serving as a faculty member at MDC, he became the school's president in 1995. Time named him one of the ten best college presidents in 2009, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Born in Cuba, Padrón was a teenager when he came to the United States as part of Operation Pedro Pan. The initiative allowed Cuban parents to send their children to the U.S. alone. Padrón did not speak good English when he arrived, and he struggled in a school system that did not yet include bilingual education programs.
After graduating from Miami Senior High School, Padrón attended MDC and earned an undergraduate economics degree from Florida Atlantic University. He attended graduate school at the University of Florida, completing master's and doctoral degrees in economics.
When Padrón finished his education, he was about to take a job at DuPont, but he was still connected to his old professors at MDC, and they asked him to apply for a faculty position at the school. Since 1995, he has served as the president of MDC. The school enrolls and graduates more black and Hispanic students than any college in the nation.
In 2006, Padrón retired from MDC. He collected $893,286 in lump sum benefits and started receiving retirement pay of $14,631 a month. One month later, Padrón returned to his position at the college and was receiving his annual salary again. This practice, which has been undertaken by a number of Florida public officials, has been criticized by local media sources as "double dipping". Padrón's spokesperson said that college trustees asked Padrón to come back after he had announced his retirement. The spokesperson said that the practice is legal.
MDC is one of 14 Florida community colleges that can grant bachelor's degrees. Padrón says that the school's curricula focus on degree programs that will directly prepare graduates for the workforce.
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