Hubert Benitez, D.D.S., Ph.D., took office on July 1, 2024, as the 23rd president of Saint Peter’s University. As president, Dr. Benitez serves as chief executive and administrative officer of the University and works in close collaboration with the Board of Trustees and with internal and external constituencies to provide overall leadership and direction for the institution.

Dr. Benitez comes to Saint Peter’s University having dedicated the last two decades of his career in higher education as an academic, administrator and faculty member, with significant experience in public, private and Jesuit higher education institutions. He previously spent 15 years as a clinician.

Prior to his appointment at Saint Peter’s University, Dr. Benitez served as president and chief executive officer of American International College (AIC) in Springfield, MA, with responsibility for the overall administration of the institution, including formulating and recommending policies, programs, and plans for its educational, financial and physical development, while guiding the College’s vision and strategic plan.

Dr. Benitez also 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, in Kansas City, MO. Over his career, he has also served in other executive leadership roles, including provost and chief academic officer, dean of health sciences, department chair and assistant dean, while also holding an academic rank at the associate professor level. His areas of research, grant funding and professional activities contribute to a wide range of topics including creating pipelines for the transition of underrepresented and minority students into higher education, narrowing the readiness gap for diverse student bodies, increasing service learning, developing peer mentoring programs and improving health awareness and education.

Dr. Benitez has significant experience in academic administration and leadership, strategic planning, academic program development, health sciences education and with assessment 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. President Benitez is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and is committed to changing lives through education. He is passionately committed to access and opportunity, social justice and working with first-generation and diverse student bodies. In response to this commitment, Dr. Benitez has led the creation of bridge and pipeline programs designed to increase access to education and promote the diversity of students pursuing careers in a variety of academic and professional fields.

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

Dr. Benitez has been married for 35 years to his wife Sandra, an architect. They have two adult children, Ana Ximena and Daniel.