Education Secretary James A. Peyser announced the new commissioner for Higher Education, Carlos Santiago, who currently serves as the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education senior deputy commissioner for Academic Affairs. This announcement follows the Board of Higher Education’s (BHE) vote today, which unanimously recommended (12-0) in favor of Dr. Santiago’s candidacy.
“I congratulate Dr. Carlos Santiago on his appointment as the next Commissioner of higher education,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Massachusetts is a leader in education, but we are faced with an increasingly competitive global marketplace and continuing achievement gaps. With Carlos at the helm, I’m confident our public higher education system will rise to the challenge.”
“I am honored by the board’s vote of confidence,” Santiago said. “I look forward to working with the board and the administration to accelerate the pace of change and improvement on behalf of all our students and the Commonwealth as a whole.”
Santiago joined the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in April 2013 as the senior deputy commissioner for Academic Affairs. His past academic appointments include that of chancellor of the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee (Wisconsin’s second largest research university). He brings over 30 years of experience in public higher education. Santiago also served as provost and chief operating officer at the University at Albany. He was a professor of economics at UWM and SUNY-Albany and holds a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University. He is also the author or co-author of six books and has published dozens of articles and book reviews, of which many focus on economic development and the changing socioeconomic status of Latinos in the United States. On two separate occasions, in 1996 and 2011, Santiago has been named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic Business magazine.
