Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón is a Board Member of the Council on Higher Education of RIDGE-LANE LP.
Dr. Padrón is President Emeritus of Miami Dade College (MDC), having served as its President for almost 25 years, credited with elevating MDC into a position of national prominence among the best and most recognized U.S. colleges and universities, including its rank as the largest degree granting institution in America.
His work 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 catalytic effect on social and economic change.
Dr. Padrón is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of TIME magazine’s 10 Best College Presidents, and one of eight most influential college presidents in the U.S. by The Washington Post. He was awarded the Carnegie Corporation Centennial Academic Leadership Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., by President Barack Obama, for being a prominent national voice for access and inclusion in higher education.
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, Dr. 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.
He has served on several national commissions including Aspen Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Century Foundation, National Science Foundation, National Governors Association, and Lumina Foundation.
He currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Urban Institute, The Spencer Foundation, The Education Trust, ACT, College Promise, International Association of University Presidents, and the World Strategic Forum (Chair). Previously, he held positions on the boards of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta - Miami Branch (Chair), the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (Chair), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the White House Commission on Educational Excellence, and The College Board.
