Dana Mohler-Faria

As Special Advisor for Education, Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria is also the President of Bridgewater State College, the largest state college in Massachusetts. He was the first person of color to lead Bridgewater State College and is only the second Cape Verdean in the United States to be elected the president of a higher education institution. As president, he founded the Connect Partnership, an innovative higher education partnership between five public higher education institutions in Southeastern Massachusetts. He also held the first-ever Regional Leaders Summit to align higher education offerings with regional needs.

Mohler-Faria has also chaired the State College Council of Presidents and published Massachusetts State Colleges: The Competitive Edge, an assessment of the system's ability to generate human capital. As President, he also enabled the college to remain one of the most affordable public institutions in New England by establishing a much-needed 'rainy day' fund to stabilize changes in student charges, and undertook a sweeping review and reorganization of campus diversity planning and outreach initiatives.

Mohler-Faria has extensive experience at the community college level, serving as Executive Dean of Administrative Services and Student Services at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Assistant Dean of Administrative Services at Bristol Community College in Fall River, and Director of Financial Aid at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable.

From 1966 to 1970, he served in the United States Air Force, assigned to the Strategic Air Command. He achieved the rank of Sergeant before receiving an honorable discharge.

The first member of his family to go to college, Mohler-Faria holds several degrees, including an Ed.D from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; an M.A. in U.S. History and Afro-American Studies from Boston University; and an A.A. in Liberal Arts from Cape Cod Community College.

Mohler-Faria lives in Bridgewater with his wife Kathy and son Jonathan.