Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria

President of Bridgewater State College

Few people personify the spirit, mission and character of Bridgewater State College more than its 11th president, Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria. An integral part of the campus community for nearly two decades and a lifelong resident of Southeastern Massachusetts, Dr. Mohler-Faria has followed a path of achievement that undoubtedly resonates well with many of the college’s nearly 10,000 students.

Not unlike many of the students who come to Bridgewater, President Mohler-Faria was the first member of his family to go to college. Three decades and four degrees later, he continues to cite the work ethic and moral fabric of his late father, a construction worker, and his late mother, a laborer in the cranberry bogs of Wareham and in the factories of New Bedford, as the standards by which he holds himself up to each and every day. In addition, Dr. Mohler-Faria’s optimistic outlook on life is a credit to the Cape Verdean community in which he grew up, and it is because so much of that community’s hopes and dreams were placed on his shoulders that he continues to be firmly rooted in the lives of tomorrow’s generation. President Mohler-Faria is the first person of color to lead Bridgewater State College and, at the time of his inauguration, was only the second Cape Verdean in the United States to be elected the president of a higher education institution.

Shortly after becoming president, Dr. Mohler-Faria undertook an aggressive plan to expand the number of full-time, tenure-track faculty at the college. He also founded Connect, a Southeastern Massachusetts partnership dedicated to advancing the regional mission of public higher education; Connect members include Bridgewater State College, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Bristol Community College, Cape Cod Community College, Massasoit Community College and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Dr. Mohler-Faria also presided over an extensive review of the undergraduate curriculum, modernized the college’s general education requirements, initiated an institution-wide assessment of diversity opportunities and programming, established the highly-prestigious Presidential Fellowship to promote faculty scholarly and creative work, and channeled significant college resources into faculty and student scholarship endeavors. Under his leadership, the college endowment has grown to more than $17 million – the largest for any state college in the Commonwealth.

Prior to becoming president, Dr. Mohler-Faria served for 11 years as the college’s vice president for administration and finance, during which time he oversaw the largest construction and renovation program in college history. He has also held numerous senior administrative positions at Mount Wachusett Community College, Bristol Community College and Cape Cod Community College.

Dr. Mohler-Faria holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in history from Boston University, and an associate’s degree from Cape Cod Community College. He has participated in the Oxford Roundtable, the Millennium Leadership Institute, the New England Resource Center for Higher Education and Harvard University’s Institute for Education Management and Senior Executives Program.

In addition to his work as president, Dr. Mohler-Faria served as Governor Deval Patrick’s special advisor for education and was instrumental in leading the Commonwealth’s Readiness Project and establishing the Executive Office of Education.

Last Modified: July 14, 2008