Rudy Fernandez and Barbara Ronda

UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (May 11, 2017) — Two University of Miami leaders—Rudy Fernandez, vice president for government and community relations and chief of staff to President Julio Frenk, and Barbara Ronda, associate vice president and chief administrative officer for the University of Miami Health System—were among the high-achieving graduates of Miami-Dade County Public Schools honored last week by The Education Fund.

Fernandez and Ronda, both 1991 graduates of Southwest High School, and 23 other community and business leaders received the Sapoznik Insurance Public School Alumni Achievement Awards at the fund’s annual For the Love of Art charity auction at the Miami Airport Convention Center on May 10 for embodying the success of a public school education.

The Education Fund, a nonprofit, works with the private sector to support and promote quality public education in Miami-Dade’s public schools by providing teachers and students with resources they need to be successful. Each year, the organization honors distinguished alumni who have made an impact on Miami-Dade County, which Fernandez and Ronda  have—and which their early leadership roles portended. Back in 1991, he was Southwest’s student government president and she its senior class president.

Today, Fernandez, who also serves on the boards of the United Way of Miami-Dade, the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the third class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a national leadership development initiative that draws upon the resources of three U.S. presidential centers.

Prior to joining UM in 2007, Fernandez served as special assistant to the president in the George W. Bush White House and held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign, and the Republican National Committee.

In addition to her duties at UM, Ronda serves on the board of directors of the Health Foundation of South Florida, which promotes health and disease prevention in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. She also was selected last year for the inaugural class of the Carol Emmott Fellowship, a cutting-edge program that accelerates the leadership capacity and impact of women leaders in health care.

Ronda, who joined UM in 2013, previously served as assistant vice president for strategic operations and business development at the  International Medicine Institute and as director of strategic operations and business development for managed care.

Prior to joining UM, she held several positions in the Jackson Health System and at Miami Children’s Hospital.

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