ABOUT THE SPEAKER
PROFESSOR DR. JOHN V. LOMBARDI

Dr. John V. Lombardi is the Chancellor (since 1 July 2002) and Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was born in Los Angeles, California (1942) and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Arts (B.A.) in 1963 from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Dr. Lombardi then went on to do a Master’s Degree in Arts (M.A.) at Columbia University, New York; and finally obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1968. Dr. Lombardi is a world renowned academician and educational philosopher cum administrator. A specialist in Latin American history, Dr. Lombardi is the author of seven books focused primarily on Venezuela. In addition to history, he has taught and written extensively and profusely on education (its philosophy, governance, business) international business, computer literacy and software evaluation.

Dr. Lombardi came to the University of Florida - to assume the position as its ninth president - from Johns Hopkins University, where he had been provost and vice president for academic affairs since 1987. From 1967 until 1987, he taught in the History Department at Indiana University. Dr. Lombardi held various administrative posts at Indiana University as well, including director of Latin American Studies, Dean of International Programs, and Dean of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Lombardi is a man of messianic vision and passionate conviction for the field of education, who never tires to articulate what he believes to be the ideals of learning and research as the essentials of the “academic imperative” without which higher educational institutions such as universities would cease to fulfill its rightful role and therefore lose its raison d’être or meaning for its very existence.