People

Dr. Maria Vallejo is giving back to one of her alma maters.

Vallejo, the vice president for growth and expansion and provost of the Belle Glade and Loxahatchee Groves campuses, has been named a new trustee to the 26-member Hampshire College Board of Trustees.

She will serve a four-year term now through June 30, 2020.

“I am thrilled to get to serve on the board at Hampshire,” said Vallejo. “I had an incredible experience there as a student and really enjoyed the service-learning aspect of the college. It provided a very unique and enriching education.”

In her role, she will help review and ensure the quality of the institution’s educational programs, support the institution’s engagement in sound strategic planning, as well as serve on the student life and enrollment committees, among others.

“I am delighted that Dr. Maria Vallejo has agreed to serve on the Hampshire College Board of Trustees,” said Gaye Hill, chair of the board. “I first met Maria when she spoke at the inauguration ceremony for Hampshire President Jonathan Lash in 2011, and since then we have been hoping her schedule would permit her to become a trustee. Maria is a thought leader in promoting and improving access to higher education, and she brings important perspective to the Hampshire board’s work, both as an alum of one of the college’s earliest classes and through her remarkable efforts at Palm Beach State College. We are fortunate that over the years she has steered several Palm Beach State College graduates to Hampshire, and we all look forward to continuing our efforts together in this new capacity.”

Hampshire College is located in Amherst, Mass. According to Vallejo, it’s a socially-conscious institution that bases student success not on grades but on research projects, portfolios and service-learning activities.

Vallejo graduated in 1974 with a degree in bilingual education. One of her many service-learning projects was to teach people who were getting surplus foods how to prepare those foods in a nutritious and culturally appealing way.