About President Becerra
Irma Becerra, Ph.D.
President, Marymount University
Arlington, Virginia
Dr. Irma Becerra took office on July 1, 2018 as the seventh President of Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, the first Hispanic-Serving Institution in the state. During her first six months in the role, she launched the University’s new Strategic Plan, “Momentum,” which is guiding the University from 2019 to 2026. The plan calls for Marymount to achieve national and international recognition for innovation, commitment to student success, alumni achievement, and faculty and staff excellence.
In her seven-plus years as President, Dr. Becerra has introduced numerous initiatives with long-lasting effects in support of Marymount’s mission and vision for the future. This includes earning national recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges Rankings, securing Research College & University (RCU) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) classifications from Carnegie, overseeing the transition to a new academic structure, adding market-driven academic programs that prioritize career preparation, and launching fully online program offerings that include new doctorates in Business Intelligence, Educational Leadership & Organizational Innovation, and more. Other notable initiatives include acquiring a luxury apartment building in Ballston, ‘The Rixey,’ and transforming it into a mixed-use property—Placemakr Marymount Ballston—that combines student housing with an extended stay hotel operated in collaboration between Placemakr and Marymount’s School of Business. The Early Learning Academy has also been launched in collaboration with Marymount’s School of Education, the first Amazon Just Walk Out store on any university campus in the U.S. was established, and the University’s IT infrastructure has been improved through the implementation of the state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning application, Workday. She has also navigated the school community through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while leading efforts at the state and federal levels to advocate for student success.
During her tenure at Marymount, she has received numerous recognitions and honors, including the Women in Leadership Award from Virginia Business and the Washington Business Journal’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Champion Award. She has been recognized as one of the 50 Most Influential People by Northern Virginia Magazine and one of the Top 35 Women in Higher Education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She was also included in the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 Class of 2019 and Women Who Mean Business of 2019. In addition, at its 2022 annual awards gala in Washington, D.C., the Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!) organization honored Dr. Becerra with the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award for her dedicated work at the University and throughout her career in higher education.
Dr. Becerra’s lifelong commitment to all those who seek an education has continued throughout her professional career. In 2018, she won the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala charity event. She donated her prize money to the Sister Majella Berg Internship Fund, which provides Marymount students a stipend for unpaid internships. In recent years, she has lobbied on Capitol Hill for a permanent legislative solution to DACA to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. At Marymount, she was instrumental in establishing the University’s partnership with TheDream.US, the nation’s largest college access and success program for Dreamers, and she also created the institution’s own Dreamers scholarship fund. Dr. Becerra also advocated for the passage of a Virginia law that allows in-state Dreamer students to receive state financial aid at colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.
Dr. Becerra is known for expanding educational access for students and keenly targeting programming to meet societal needs and changing demographics. As a student and a professional, her academic career has blended mathematics, engineering, and systems thinking and processes in her studies, teaching, and administrative leadership. An educator who began her career in the private sector and the holder of four patents and copyrights, Dr. Becerra is an ardent advocate for a STEM-educated workforce and holds the mindset of a trained scientist and seasoned entrepreneur. Catholic-educated throughout her primary and secondary years, she understands the importance of faith-based instruction, raising Marymount’s profile, and spurring growth in enrollment and academic programs. This is being accomplished, in part, through innovative partnerships, scholarship opportunities, and broad initiatives.
A Cuban-born American, Dr. Becerra immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was just an infant and lived in Puerto Rico through her high school years. These formative experiences ignited her mind, imbuing her with a passion for knowledge and a deep-seated belief that “no one can take away your education.” She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami. She became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University (FIU). Dr. Becerra believes she owes all her career success to higher education, saying that college is the most critical factor in social mobility and the pathway to the American Dream.
After receiving her undergraduate degree, she joined Florida Power & Light. She was responsible for coding the computer model that oversees the reliability of the power system grid, giving her hands-on experience in the electrical engineering field. While she enjoyed the technical aspects of the job during her tenure there, she craved a role that would involve more personal interactions with others. Dr. Becerra then volunteered to teach a corporate training course, stirring an interest in adult education and prompting her to return for her doctorate. Following her doctoral studies, she became a professor of Management Information Systems, achieving one of her many long-term goals.
Dr. Becerra spent almost two decades at FIU, from 1998 to 2014, in various positions that included Vice President, Vice Provost, Entrepreneurship Center Director, and tenured full professor in Management Information Systems at FIU’s College of Business. She founded FIU’s Knowledge Management Lab and led significant projects as principal investigator at the National Science Foundation, NASA (Headquarters, Kennedy, Ames, and Goddard Space Flight Centers), and the Air Force Research Lab. She was also a Sloan Scholar at MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research.
Before Marymount, she served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida, from 2014 to 2018. In those four years, she led the expansion of academic offerings and launched 19 new market-driven degrees, including nursing and cybersecurity. Other initiatives included developing fully online programs, establishing the University’s Student Success Center, and implementing structural changes and new technology.
Dr. Becerra has authored four books and numerous journal articles on knowledge management and business intelligence. Her original research has also spanned enterprise systems, disaster management, and IT entrepreneurship. She is a frequently sought-after speaker in the U.S. and internationally in knowledge management, student success, technology, and academic innovation. Since 2021, she has often contributed to the Forbes Business Council, writing on business management, best practices, and leadership. She has also been featured as a guest on various podcasts, including Plexuss, the EdUp Higher Ed podcast, and iHeart Radio. On these platforms, she continues to share her story, accomplishments, and message that education is a vital asset in one’s life and career.
Dr. Becerra has two grown children—Anthony Fernandez, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig, and Nicole Fernandez, a project leader with Boston Consulting Group. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area’s Board of Trustees and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC), Executive Committee Member for the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV), and Secretary and Chair of the Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). She is also a board member of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Northern Virginia Technology Council, Science Museum of Virginia, and United Educators.
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