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Florida Board of Governors reappoints Trustee Natasha Lowell and appoints Ambassador (ret.) Donna Hrinak to FIU Board of Trustees

Florida Board of Governors reappoints Trustee Natasha Lowell and appoints Ambassador (ret.) Donna Hrinak to FIU Board of Trustees

November 5, 2019 at 12:00am


The Florida Board of Governors has reappointed Trustee Natasha Lowell and appointed Ambassador (ret.) Donna Hrinak to the FIU Board of Trustees for five-year terms beginning January 6, 2020.
 
“We look forward to continue working with Trustee Lowell and we welcome Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak to the Board of Trustees,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “Their business expertise, talent and commitment to our Miami and FIU community will be invaluable as we work together to support learner success.”
 
Trustee Lowell has been a member of the FIU Board of Trustees since 2015 and is currently the senior vice president at First National Bank of South Miami in Private Banking. She has more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry and began her career with The Kislak Companies in commercial real estate lending and was a construction lender at First Union Bank. She became a Private Banker, senior vice president, with Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust.
 
Trustee Lowell was president of Federated National Company, a residential and commercial real estate development company. She is a former board Chair of the College Assistance Program Inc. (CAP, Inc.) of the Miami Foundation. She has served on several boards including Take Stock for Children Miami, United Way Women’s Leadership Committee and Miami Bridge Youth and Family Services.
 
“It is an honor to serve as a trustee for FIU, a university that is well on its way to becoming a top 50 national public university on the strength of problem-solving research, innovation and a commitment to prepare our students with the skills they need to succeed in today's workforce,” Lowell said. “I look forward to working with my fellow trustees and President Rosenberg in the years to come on initiatives that will help our FIU reach new heights.”
 
Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak has been president of Boeing Latin America since 2014. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the Boeing strategy in Latin America and leads companywide activities including government affairs, identifying new and emerging business opportunities, leading corporate citizenship programs, and enhancing company relationships with customers and other stakeholder groups. Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak also leads the company’s strategy to grow regional market opportunities in Latin America. She was previously president of Boeing Brazil.
 
Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak also was vice president, Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, for PepsiCo, Inc. Prior to that she was corporate affairs director for Latin America and the European Union for Kraft Foods. Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak also was a career officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, serving as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil (2002–04), Venezuela (2000–02), Bolivia (1998–2000), and the Dominican Republic (1994–1997) and as deputy assistant secretary of state for Mexico and the Caribbean. She also has worked at the U.S. missions in Mexico City; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Bogotá, Colombia; Warsaw, Poland; and São Paulo.
 
Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak is on the boards of the Inter-American Dialogue and Adtalem Global Education. She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT). She writes and speaks frequently on foreign policy and gender issues.
 
“As someone who has spent decades learning about, living in and working in Latin America, I am thrilled to join the Board of Trustees of FIU, a university with “international” as its middle name,” Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak said. “This is an institution that embraces diversity and inclusion and is committed to global learning. I cannot wait to contribute to the important work FIU is doing for our community, our hemisphere and our world.”
 
Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak succeeds Trustee Justo L. Pozo, who was appointed to the FIU Board of Trustees by the Florida Board of Governors in March 2015. Trustee Pozo, who is CEO of IMC Health, is an FIU alumnus who previously was on the FIU Foundation Board of Directors.
 
The appointments of Trustee Lowell and Ambassador (ret.) Hrinak are pending confirmation by the Florida Senate.