50 Most Powerful People of 2023: Education
Meet the most powerful people in the Education category.
Education in Central Florida plays a pivotal role in shaping the community’s future. It empowers individuals with knowledge and skills, unlocking doors to opportunities and fostering personal growth.
A well-educated populace contributes to a thriving economy, attracts businesses, and ultimately enhances the overall quality of life in the region. Moreover, education fosters a sense of civic responsibility, promoting community engagement and social cohesion.
In Central Florida, investing in education is not just an individual pursuit but a collective endeavor that strengthens the community’s foundation for a brighter tomorrow. Here are the Most Powerful People in Education.
1. Dr. Maria Vazquez | Superintendent, Orange County Public Schools
The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Maria Vazquez often transports back to her first day of kindergarten as she sat on the steps and cried because she spoke no English.
“Mrs. Alvarez, my kindergarten teacher, was able to calm my fears and help me begin to get acclimated to a new environment. It is because of the work of caring adults like Mrs. Alvarez that school was a safe place where I thrived,” Vazquez says. She also credits her parents, who “instilled in me that education was the most valuable currency I owned, and I could not squander it.”
Her experience as a terrified kindergartner has echoed throughout her professional life, leading her to place a high value on relationships. She works to help all stakeholders collaborate in creating “school environments where all children feel safe, supported and successful,” she says. Her hope, she adds, is to create lifelong learners.
Vazquez served as the county’s deputy superintendent before stepping into her new role in 2022. She is credited with boosting graduation rates to an all-time high, her most proud accomplishment. She has also helped narrow minority achievement gaps, increased access to AP and dual-enrollment courses, and provided greater support for teachers.
The educator and administrator views her role as “an incredible opportunity” at a “pivotal time in history.”
As she looks ahead, she is rethinking how the district can make best use of its resources, time and space in educating up the next generation.
“My vision for OCPS’ future is to provide the opportunities necessary to enable all children to fulfill their full potential as empowered individuals who understand and engage with the world around them.”
Photo by Roberto Gonzalez
2. Dr. Alexander Cartwright | President, University of Central Florida
A Bahamian native who immigrated as a teen, Alexander Cartwright is grateful for his humble beginnings—cleaning up after hogs, getting his GED and attending community college. Every step of his journey paved the path that led him to become president of Florida’s largest university in 2020.
“I want everybody else to feel that same gratitude for what this country offers and what higher education does for your life,” says Cartwright, who later received a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Iowa. “I think it’s just transformational, and I want others to experience that.”
Cartwright sees his staff’s role as equipping UCF’s students for success. “They just need access to that opportunity, and they’ll step up and do great things.”
In July, the school became the youngest university to join the Big 12 Conference. With 12,000-plus employees, nearly 69,000 students and a $2 billion operating budget, everything about UCF is big. But Cartwright is thinking even bigger. Now the president is setting his sights on UCF becoming a preeminent Florida institution, which would open the floodgate for additional resources.
Industry partnerships are a key to Cartwright’s vision to create a wave of success felt throughout the community and the economy as graduates enter the workforce.
The school’s vision is about “unleashing the potential” of its students, faculty, staff and the community as UCF goes to “the next level,” he says. “We want people to know that we took a different path, and we decided we’re going to be exceptional.”
Photo by Roberto Gonzalez
3. Teresa Jacobs | Chair, Orange County Public Schools
According to Teresa Jacobs, a leader’s positive impact is a true measure of power. When her two terms as Orange County mayor drew to a close, the Florida native set her sights on working within the school system that had educated her four children as it works “to build our society of tomorrow.”
“I don’t think there is any greater or more critical responsibility of government than providing for the education of its citizens,” Jacobs emphasizes. “It is not an exaggeration to say that public education is the only thing that can stabilize a community and sustain a nation.”
Since becoming chair, Jacobs has seen the district develop a team approach to mental health that resulted in a 13 percent decrease in child and teen suicides in Orange County between 2020 and 2021. She has also seen the county take a multifaceted, tactical approach to reversing the COVID slide.
“The expansion of the county’s dual enrollment and career and technical education programs help students become responsible members of society,” Jacobs says. Her own experience, and her children’s, has shown her the importance of challenging and stimulating students.
“When our youth have no hope of attainable options ahead of them, even from a young age, they are far more likely to pursue life choices that take from society instead of add to it,” she warns.
“These pathways to success are also critical from an economic standpoint because we need the workforce to fill those critical jobs.” In other words, everybody wins.
Photo by Roberto Gonzalez
4. Dr. Kathleen Plinske | President, Valencia College
Kathleen Plinkse rejects the notion that someone can be unable to comprehend math or any other subject—”as if there were an algebra gene in our DNA, and without it one is doomed to never solve a polynomial.”
Instead, she believes anyone can learn anything under the right conditions, so she works to create those conditions for the 68,915 students in her charge.
“This belief in our students, and our focus on creating the right conditions for learning, is paying off [as] nearly 20,000 individuals earn a degree, certificate or industry certification each year from Valencia College,” the first-generation college graduate says.
Plinske calls accessibility to higher education “my passion and my calling.” She appeals especially to those who believe college is “out of reach or those who may have been told they’re not college material.”
The president also recognizes a college degree isn’t for everybody. However, she insists, “the data are clear that anyone who wants to participate fully in the economy of the future needs some education or training after high school.”
Toward that end, Valencia offers short-term training programs—some as short as four weeks—in addition to baccalaureate programs in areas such as business, nursing and software development. Plinske says the college will continue to partner with local business and industry to “ensure that our graduates are not only prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, but that they help to create them—and that they are fully prepared to contribute to our society as critical thinkers, problem solvers and leaders who can help us create a community in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
Photo by Steven Sobel
5. Dr. Georgia Lorenz | President, Seminole State College
Under Georgia Lorenz’s leadership, Seminole State College is a formidable force, maintaining one of the lowest tuitions in the country while also being named one of the top 25 U.S. colleges as a 2023 semifinalist for the Aspen Prize for College Excellence.
According to Lorenz, prize qualifications include degree completion and such measurements of graduate success as transfers to universities or job attainment. “This means that our students can feel confident they are going to get a high-quality, high-value education at Seminole State,” the administrator says.
In June, the college received $4.7 million in state funding to expand and remodel its Altamonte Springs campus, one of four in Seminole County. Lorenz says the project will benefit “those students who are pursuing healthcare professions like nursing and respiratory therapy, and it benefits our community because it will expand our capacity to produce the workforce we need.”
In addition to addressing the shortage of nurses, SSC is also partnering with Seminole County Public Schools to train future teachers for roles within the school system.
Lorenz views SSC a “convener that can bring different partners together for the good of all” as it maximizes industry and employer partnerships in its effort “to ensure we produce graduates ready to excel.”
The college recently launched Seminole State Commits. In a partnership with Sanford, Orlando Health, CareerSource Central Florida and The Sharing Center, the program offers free post-secondary education and training in underserved communities.
Photo by Kirk Duda
6. Garry Jones | President, Full Sail University
In his 20s, Garry Jones decided to go the safe, practical route. He would pursue college to prepare for a life in corporate America in lieu of his career as a professional guitarist. But the confines of safety and practicality couldn’t contain him.
Studio manager Jon Phelps took Jones under his wing and began to share “his dream and vision of creating a school for people just like us: inspired, drawn to the arts, passionate about working in music, film [and] television, and years later, gaming and technology.” Full Sail was born.
That was 45 years and 100,000 graduates ago. Known for its intensive program, the university leaves its imprint worldwide. The work of its graduates gets noticed—in Grammy Awards and Oscars, in big-name concert productions (think Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney), and in Game Awards, among other areas.
“Their influence is felt throughout the world of entertainment and media production and in emerging technologies,” Jones says.
He and his team remain tuned to trends to keep education relevant. Graduates can keep fresh by auditing classes free of charge. This year Full Sail launched DC3 Education, subject-specific courses largely taught by its alumni.
In his downtime, Jones can sometimes be found jamming in his music room or in his office. “Performing will always be a sweet spot in my life.”
Photo by Platinum Creative
7. Dr. Grant Cornwell | President, Rollins College
A philosopher, Grant Cornwell does more than muse about what it takes to train the next generation of global citizens. He has a strategic plan, one whose fruit is seen in higher enrollment, a record fundraising campaign, greater student diversity, and multiple capital improvement projects.
Cornwell hopes to produce graduates who can evaluate complex world issues critically and creatively and address them with passion and integrity.
Ranked the No.1 regional university in the South by U.S. News & World Report in 2022, the college boasts a $145 million budget, $450 million in endowments, 640 employees and more than 3,000 students. Over the past few years, the school has added student housing, a baseball field, a parking garage, an event venue, a student engagement center, a dining hall and other projects.
If Cornwell needs inspiration for persevering, he’s quick to find it in his students. “They have a sense of urgency in their studies. They see the challenges facing our nation and the world, and they are eager to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary to get in the game,” he says.
The longtime sailor also finds inspiration in his voyages. “We have fallen in love with the sailing grounds between Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay down to Sanibel Island and every place in between. There are countless beautiful bays and anchorages,” he says.
Photo by Scott Cook
8. Dr. Deborah German | Founding Dean, UCF College Of Medicine
Founded in 2009, UCF College of Medicine graduated its 1,000th physician in May and has 600 doctors in post-graduate residency and fellowship programs throughout Florida. The next addition to Deborah German’s grand vision: a College of Nursing in Lake Nona’s Medical City complex.
“My goal was to build this century’s premier medical school and a new Academic Health Sciences Center that would become locally and nationally relevant,” German says. The impact of the college’s research will be felt beyond the community, extending into space. The college has partnered with the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health to research the effects of space travel on human health. The research takes UCF back to its beginnings in 1963 as a source for Space Coast talent.
“Space medicine research is part of our growing clinical trials program—where UCF physicians and scientists are working to discover tomorrow’s treatments and cures,” German says.
Photo by Roberto Gonzalez
9. Wendy Brandon | CEO, UCF Lake Nona Hospital
In the two years since UCF Lake Nona Hospital’s opening, Wendy Brandon has seen her self-described “legacy project” achieve great things, including recently becoming the first Florida hospital to receive LEED Gold certification.
The hospital is one of only 28 nationwide to receive LEED Gold certification. “What that means is our hospital has sustainability at its core. It’s literally in the foundation,” she explains. The award considers construction materials and practices that lessen environmental impact. The hospital realizes a 21 percent savings in annual energy costs as a result.
Brandon built something else into the hospital’s foundation: a mission to improve the lives of people in its care. The hospital ranks in the top 10 percent or higher nationally in patient surveys.
“We have such a gift to be able to connect with people when they are at their most vulnerable,” says the Nashville native, who brought nearly 25 years of healthcare leadership to her role.
“We will always be committed to educating future generations,” she insists. “That’s in our DNA.”
