Elizabeth M. Béjar, Ph.D., serves as provost, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Florida International University, providing oversight and strategic direction for the university’s over 54,000 students, over 2,500 faculty, 11 colleges and over 50 centers and institutes. As chief academic officer and chief operating officer, she oversees an annual budget of $1.4 billion.
Dr. Béjar leads the academic deans and provost senior staff in implementing Experience Impact 2030, FIU’s strategic plan to become a Top 30 public university by 2030. The plan rests on three pillars, the FIU Experience, Research Excellence, and Strategic Alliances, and concentrates investment in three areas where FIU aims to lead: health, environment and environmental resilience, and technology and innovation.
Since she was named provost in February 2023, FIU has reached a series of historic milestones. In 2024, the Florida Board of Governors designated FIU a Preeminent State Research University, making it the youngest institution to earn the state’s highest designation and bringing an additional $25 million a year to recruit and retain top faculty and students. That same year, FIU entered the U.S. News & World Report Top 50 public universities for the first time, and it has since ranked No. 1 in the nation for economic and social mobility for two consecutive years. FIU also ranks among the nation’s top public universities in Washington Monthly, TIME and Niche, and has led Florida’s 12 public universities in the state’s performance-based funding model for four consecutive years.
FIU’s research enterprise has grown alongside its academic standing, with annual research expenditures reaching $325.8 million. The university is one of only 21 in the nation to hold both the Carnegie R1 (Very High Research) and Opportunity College and University designations. Over the past five years, FIU raised its four-year graduation rate for first-time-in-college students by more than 20 percentage points. The six-year graduation rate for Pell Grant recipients rose by more than nine points and the median wage of its graduates rose nearly 23 percent. FIU has also earned or renewed Carnegie’s Leadership for Public Purpose and Engagement elective classifications.
Dr. Béjar has served as principal investigator for several grants, including studies of institutional models of success and a $2 million U.S. Department of Labor grant focused on the future of the cybersecurity workforce. Under her leadership, FIU received a U.S. Department of Education grant that builds on its completion grants and financial wellness programming to re-enroll students who stopped out during the pandemic or are at risk of stopping out. She serves on the executive board of Excelencia in Education, the national organization that has certified FIU with its Seal of Excelencia.
The first Hispanic and first alumna to serve as provost, Dr. Béjar joined FIU in 2003 and has held several key leadership positions, including vice provost for Academic Planning and Accountability (2009–2014), vice president for Academic Affairs (2014–2018), senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs (2018–2022) and interim provost (2022–2023). Before joining FIU, she was an academic policy analyst with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, an M.S. in International and Intercultural Development Education from FIU and a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education from the University of Miami.
“I believe strongly in the value proposition of the anchor public research university, and the critical role of faculty to ensure that students are prepared for the careers of today and tomorrow, are global citizens, and can achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams.”
Duties and Responsibilities
As the chief academic officer of the university, Dr. Béjar is tasked with promoting and ensuring academic quality throughout FIU. She works closely with the FIU president and the dean of each school to provide leadership for institutional planning and advancing FIU’s goal of becoming a top-30 public university.
