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Council of the Americas to Present 2016 BRAVO Business Award to Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón

On October 28, the Miami Dade College president will receive the inaugural Civic Leader of the Year Award in recognition of his transformational leadership.

Miami, August 23, 2016—Council of the Americas and Miami Dade College (MDC) are pleased to announce that Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón will be presented with the BRAVO Business Award for Civic Leader of the Year for his multiple accomplishments at the helm of one of the most highly regarded colleges in the United States.

The 22nd BRAVO Business Awards, to be held October 28 at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, will recognize excellence and leadership in business, policy, and social development in the Americas. This year marks the first time the BRAVO Awards gala ceremony will be hosted by half-century-old Council of the Americas, a hemispheric institution. In 2016, eight outstanding recipients will be recognized with the BRAVO Business Awards.

“By expanding educational opportunities to students without financial means or distinction of background, Dr. Eduardo Padrón has transformed thousands of lives and produced one of the finest and most diverse colleges in the United States,” said Americas Society and Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal. “We are delighted to honor him with the BRAVO Civic Leader of the Year Award for his illustrious career as an education leader and his enormous contribution to the Miami community and the Americas.”

“I am extremely honored to receive this special distinction from such an amazing organization,” said Dr. Padrón. “It is an award I accept on behalf of all my colleagues and especially our students, which is why we are all here.”

President Padrón’s pace-setting work at Miami Dade College has been hailed as a model of innovation and inclusion in higher education. MDC graduates more African Americans and Hispanics than any other college in the country. Hispanic student enrollment alone has increased 57 percent in the last 20 years. Notably, MDC is also one of the first colleges to award scholarships to underprivileged, undocumented students. During his more than four-decade-long career at MDC, Dr. Padrón has been selected to serve on posts of national prominence by six American presidents and currently chairs the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He has received some of the most prestigious awards in and out of academia and more than 15 honorary doctorates from leading universities such as Brown, Princeton, and Rollins. He is also the recipient of highest honors from the governments of countries such as France, which named him Commandeur in the Ordre des Palms Académiques; Argentina, which awarded him the Order of San Martin; and Spain, which recognized him with the Order of Queen Isabella and the Juan Ponce de León Award.

Other recipients of the 2016 BRAVO Business Awards include Secretary of Social Development of Mexico José Antonio Meade Kuribreña; President of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company Ali Moshiri; President of the Humanitas360 Institute Patricia Villela Marino; CEO and Chairman of MercadoLibre Marcos Galperin; CEO of ARCA Continental Francisco Garza Egloff; and the city of Medellín, the award for which will be accepted by Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga.

For more information, please visit: bravobusiness.com

Press inquiries:

AS/COA Media Relations | mediarelations@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384 | 1-212-277-8333.

MDC Media-only Contacts | Juan C. Mendieta, MDC director of communications |305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu | Hessy Fernandez, director of media relations, 305-237-3949, hfernan5@mdc.edu| Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu | Allison Horton, 305-237-3359, ahorton2@mdc.edu.

Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation.

Miami Dade College (MDC) is the higher education institution with the largest undergraduate enrollment in the America, with more than 165,000 students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and Science degrees and awards more degrees to minorities than any other college or university in the country. The college’s eight campuses and outreach center offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including several baccalaureate degrees in education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film, engineering, biological sciences, and others. In fact, its academic and workforce training programs are national models of excellence. MDC is also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the Miami Book Fair, Miami Film Festival, the MDC Live Arts Performing Arts Series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, a major sculpture park and large art gallery and theater systems. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960. For more information please visit www.mdc.edu.