Saint Peter's University, President

Saint Peter’s University has selected Hubert Benitez, D.D.S., Ph.D., as its 23rd president. 

The trustees unanimously selected Benitez to succeed Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., who is retiring in June after 17 years as president. The seven-month national search was conducted by a 16-member presidential search committee comprised of trustees, student leadership, faculty, staff, and academic and administrative leaders, as well as the external higher education community.

Benitez has most recently served as president and chief executive officer of American International College (AIC) in Springfield, MA and brings significant experience with public, private, and Jesuit higher education institutions. Prior to his appointment as president of AIC, Benitez served as vice president for strategic initiatives and academic innovation – as well as acting chief inclusion officer – at fellow Jesuit institution Rockhurst University and as president and chief executive officer for Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences. Over his career, Benitez has also served in other leadership roles, including as provost and chief academic officer, dean of health sciences, department chair, and assistant dean.

Benitez brings significant experience in academic administration and leadership, strategic planning, academic program development, health sciences education, and institutional and programmatic accreditation. He serves as a peer reviewer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and has assisted academic institutions in the design and implementation of academic assessment and evaluation, as well as with accreditation-related matters.

A native of Colombia, Benitez received his first doctoral degree in dentistry from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, a Jesuit, research-intensive institution of higher education in Latin America. Subsequently, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center focused on education and research, and he later earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Saint Louis University. Benitez has completed executive training through the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, along with the Executive Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Phillip Petree led this search with Berkley Braden, Mia Carpiniello, and Ryan Smillie.

More information is available here.