Margarita Benítez

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Margarita Benítez
Woman with short hair in a geometrically printed blouse standing in front of a podium with a microphone and seal of the University of Puerto Rico on it.
Benítez, 2014
Born
Margarita Inés Benítez Martínez

1949 (age 74–75)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Other namesMargarita Benítez Martínez
Occupation(s)Educator and education policy expert
Years active1977–2022
Parent
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Benítez and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Margarita Inés Benítez Martínez (born 1949) is a Puerto Rican educator and education policy expert. After completing a bachelor of arts degree at Vassar College, she earned a master's at Middlebury College and a PhD at Columbia University. She taught Spanish and literature classes at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey in the 1970s. Moving into administration in the 1980s, she was rector and then president of UPR Cayey while simultaneously serving as the acting chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. In 1986, she founded the first women's studies program in Puerto Rico.

In 1998, Benítez moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the United States Department of Education and implement Title V, government funding designed to eliminate under-representation of Latinos in higher education. After six years, she moved to the Institute for Higher Education Policy and worked with other NGOs to improve access to higher education for Latino students and coordinate tertiary education activities for a network of universities. She co-founded the Women's Knowledge International project in 2011 and has since served as its co-director. The project aims to improve scholarship on women and their involvement in global peace initiatives. She returned to Puerto Rico in 2018 as the first woman to head the Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities). Under her leadership the organization created both an on-line encyclopedia of Puerto Rico and a digital cultural archive.

Early life and education

Benítez (right) with her father, Jaime Benítez Rexach, at her 1970 graduation from Vassar College

Margarita Inés Benítez Martínez was born in 1949 in the barrio Obrero district[1] of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Luz "Lulu" Martínez Martínez and Jaime Benítez Rexach.[2][3][4] Her father was chancellor and president of the University of Puerto Rico, and involved in politics. He helped draft legislation for Puerto Rico's constitutional Bill of Human Rights and served as the commonwealth's representative for the island in the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976. His three children, Clotilde, Margarita and Jaime,[2] grew up in a home surrounded by intellectuals from many countries, who exposed them to many ideas. Her father instilled in them the transformative value of education as a means to build better understanding and improve the community.[5] She attended the Escuela Elemental y Escuela Superior de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (Elementary School and High School of the University of Puerto Rico).[6][7] While attending Vassar College she spent a year in Spain, studying Spanish literature and philosophy in Madrid.[7] In 1970, she graduated with highest honors from Vassar College with a bachelor of arts degree.[8] She continued her education, earning a master's degree in Spanish from Middlebury College in Vermont and a PhD in Spanish literature from Columbia University in Manhattan.[9]

Career

By the latter half of the 1970s, Benítez had returned home and was head of the Spanish department at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey.[9] By 1980, she was also leading the humanities department,[10] and went on to become the rector and later president of the university.[11] Active in feminist issues,[12] in 1986 she introduced the first women's study program in Puerto Rico, Projecto Estudios de la Mujer (PRO-Mujer, Women's Studies Project).[13][14][15] During this time frame, she became acting chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao.[16]

In 1998, Benítez moved to Washington, D.C. and was employed as a senior official in the Office of Postsecondary Education for the United States Department of Education. She was in charge of development for university programs serving minorities and implementation of Title V of the Higher Education Act.[16] This section of the law deals with providing federal funding to tertiary institutions which meet specifications for eliminating the under-representation of Latinos in higher education.[17] As a senior associate with the Institute for Higher Education Policy from 2004, she was responsible for the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students project and the National Articulation and Transfer Network.[11] Beginning in 2006, Benítez simultaneously worked as a research associate for the non-profit Excelencia in Education, developing policies to improve access to higher education for Latino students.[16] She became the director of higher education at The Education Trust in 2007, coordinating tertiary education activities in twenty-three states.[11][16]

Along with Teresa Langle de Paz, in 2011 Benítez co-founded and became co-director of Women's Knowledge International, a global project headquartered at the Culture of Peace Foundation at the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain.[18][19] The purpose of the organization is to promote scholarship on women and their involvement in peace initiatives throughout the world.[11] In 2013, Benítez was selected as one of four fellows from throughout the United States of the Lumina Foundation. That year, she joined the American Council on Education as interim assistant vice-president overseeing their fellowship program.[16] While away from Puerto Rico, Benítez taught at numerous universities in the United States, such as Columbia University, Fordham University, and the State University of New York at Albany , as well as in Spain.[20]

In 2018, Benítez returned to Puerto Rico to head the Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (FPH, Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities).[20] She was the first woman to be appointed as head of the organization, which is dedicated to promoting knowledge and study about Puerto Rico.[20][5] Under her leadership, the FPH launched the Enciclopedia PR (Online Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico) and the digital cultural archive, Cosecha Cultural. She served as director until 2022.[21]

References

Citations

  1. ^ El Mundo 1949, p. 7.
  2. ^ a b Lewis 2001.
  3. ^ Pensión vitalicia 2001.
  4. ^ Acevedo 2008, p. 54.
  5. ^ a b Delgado Castro 2018.
  6. ^ El Mundo 1956, p. 7.
  7. ^ a b El Mundo 1968, p. 17.
  8. ^ El Mundo 1970, p. 13C.
  9. ^ a b El Mundo 1978, p. 21A.
  10. ^ Benítez 1980, p. 9A.
  11. ^ a b c d Michigan State University 2014, p. 1.
  12. ^ Merino Méndez 1984, p. 7A.
  13. ^ Rodríguez 1990, p. 32.
  14. ^ Langle de Paz 2010, p. 19.
  15. ^ EncyclopediaPR 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d e Center for Puerto Rican Studies 2017.
  17. ^ Espino & Cheslock 2008, p. 261.
  18. ^ Lehman 2014, p. 25.
  19. ^ Boletín Oficial 2016, p. 4.
  20. ^ a b c Hispanic Theological Initiative 2019.
  21. ^ Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades 2022.

Bibliography

  • Acevedo, Héctor Luis, ed. (2008). Jaime Benítez: La universidad como vocación de vida [Jaime Benítez: The University as a Life Vocation] (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Universidad Interamericana de Puerto RicoD – Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. ISBN 978-1-934461-61-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 April 2023.
  • Benítez, Margarita (15 February 1980). "Dudas Sobre un Programa" [Doubts about a Program]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 9A. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • Delgado Castro, Ileana (22 September 2018). "Margarita Benítez regresa al país para dirigir la Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades" [Margarita Benítez Returns to the Country to Direct the Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities]. El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • Espino, Michelle M.; Cheslock, John J. (2008). "17. Considering the Federal Classification of Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities". In Gasman, Marybeth; Baez, Benjamin; Turner, Caroline Sotello Viernes (eds.). Understanding Minority-Serving Institutions. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. pp. 257–268. ISBN 978-0-7914-7873-8.
  • Langle de Paz, Teresa (2010). La rebelión sigilosa el poder transformador de la "emoción feminista". Barcelona, Spain: Icaria editorial. ISBN 978-84-9888-309-1.
  • Lehman, JoAnn (Winter–Spring 2014). "E-Sources on Women & Gender" (PDF). Feminist Collections. 35 (1–2). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Library System: 24–25. ISSN 0742-7441. OCLC 8450202800. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • Lewis, Paul (1 June 2001). "Jaime Benítez, 92, Educator and Puerto Rican Politician". The New York Times. New York, New York. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • Merino Méndez, Ruth (16 February 1984). "Desde Mi Ventana" [From My Window]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 7A. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • Rodríguez, Jorge (3 September 1990). "El feminism llevado a la práctica" [Feminism Put into Practice]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 32. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Celebran Colación de Grados" [Celebrate Collation of Degrees]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 13 June 1970. p. 13C. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Desde Vassar College Irá a Madrid" [From Vassar College Will Go to Madrid]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1 July 1968. p. 17. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Hija de Jaime Benítez" [Daughter of Jaime Benítez]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 15 June 1978. p. 21A. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Margarita Benítez". Center for Puerto Rican Studies. New York, New York: Hunter College. 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Margarita Benítez". HTI Open Plaza. Princeton, New Jersey: Hispanic Theological Initiative. 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Nacimientos, Matrimonios, Defunciones" [Births, Marriages, Deaths]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 23 June 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Nueva directora ejecutiva para la fph" [New Executive Director for the FPH]. FPHPR (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Pensión vitalicia: Doña Luz Martínez Martínez" [Life pension: Mrs. Luz Martínez Martínez]. Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Senate of Puerto Rico. 27 August 2001. Ley [law] 33-2002. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Programa Women's Knowledge International" [Women's Knowledge International Program] (PDF). Boletín Oficial de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (in Spanish) (1). Madrid, Spain: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid: 4. 29 February 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Speaker Bios: EAD 967: Policy Development and Analysis in Postsecondary Education" (PDF). Center for Higher and Adult Education. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University. Fall 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  • "Vacunan Hija Rector Benítez" [Daughter of Rector Benítez Vaccinated]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 21 March 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  • "Yamila Azize Vargas". EncyclopediaPR (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
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