Bio
Mark B. Rosenberg served as the fifth president of Florida International University (FIU) from 2009 to 2022, leading one of the most ambitious transformations in U.S. public higher education. Under his leadership, FIU became one of the nation’s fastest-rising public research universities—nearly doubling enrollment, tripling annual graduates, and tripling sponsored research. He also led the most successful philanthropic campaign in FIU’s history, surpassing its $750 million goal in private support.
A nationally recognized specialist in change management, Dr. Rosenberg is among the rare higher-education executives to have led both a major public research university and a state system of universities. As the Founding Chancellor of the Florida Board of Governors, he helped structure the system’s governance organization, policies and procedures, its finances, accountability metrics, and academic architecture that have propelled the State University System of Florida into the top ranks of U.S. public-university systems.
A political scientist and Latin Americanist, Dr. Rosenberg is now a University Professor at FIU and Senior Fellow at the Jack Gordon Institute, where he leads major initiatives on cybersecurity policy, Latin American affairs and national security. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and has taught or conducted research at Pitt, the Monterrey Institute of Technology, FIU, and Vanderbilt University as a Distinguished Research Professor. He is the author, co-author, or editor of seven books and is widely regarded as a leading U.S. expert on Latin America and the Caribbean, with deep specialization in Central America. He is currently completing two research projects: a book on Central American security issues in the 1980s, and a booklet on Disinformation and the World Cup.
Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Rosenberg has lived and worked across Latin America—including Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, and Bolivia—as well as in Luxembourg, France and Israel. At FIU, he founded or co-founded several of the university’s signature platforms, including the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC), the College of Law, the College of Medicine, the Tianjin China hospitality program, the Green School of International and Public Affairs, and pioneering initiatives supporting homeless and low-income and autistic students. His work has been supported by competitive awards from the U.S. Department of Education, the Ford, Tinker, Rockefeller, Mellon, and Organization of American States foundations. He was recently inducted into the Ellis Island Honors Society of New York City for his efforts to promote the work of immigrants into US society.
Dr. Rosenberg has played prominent leadership roles nationally and in the South Florida community. He has served on the executive committee of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, chaired the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, and participated and led National Academy of Sciences reviews of STEM education on three separate occasions. A Presidential appointee to the U.S. Task Force on Apprenticeships, he earlier co-chaired a U.S. General Accounting Office national assessment of U.S. foreign policy in Central America. He has advised the U.S. Department of State, USAID, the intelligence community and the U.S. Institute of Peace, and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. He is a Fulbright Research Fellow and an Organization of American States Fellow.
In Miami, Dr. Rosenberg became the first academic to chair the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and helped establish and fund the Academic Leaders Council at the Beacon Council. He served 12 years on the board of City National Bank and was the founding chair of the advisory board for PayCargo, a global fintech company supporting international trade. He has served as an advisor to Apex Order Systems Inc. and has been an advisor to Barry University. He frequently lectures on issues of education reform, national security, and change management.
Dr. Rosenberg earned his B.A. from Miami University (Phi Beta Kappa), a PhD in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, and certificates of completion from Harvard Business School and the Center for Creative Leadership. He is a member of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Rosenberg currently teaches course on Transnational Organized Crime and National Security, and on Border Security.
Areas of Expertise
Politics of Development, Latin American & Caribbean Politics, Inter-American Relations, Comparative Political Theory, Higher Education Policy & Management
Degrees
BA, Miami University (Ohio), Political Science, 1971
MA, University of Pittsburgh, Political Science, 1972
PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Political Science, 1976