Dario A. Cortes, PhD

Dr. Dario A. Cortes is Partner and Co-Head of our US Education Practice.

He is a forward-thinking leader who has consistently conceived and introduced innovative programs, policies, and academic initiatives to enhance access to higher education for undergraduate and graduate students and to support their success. He is a strategic thinker with sharp business acumen and talent for implementing new structures to enhance organizational operating efficiencies and increase enrollment and revenues in a fiscally responsible manner. He has exceptional relationship-building skills with demonstrated success in cultivating private, business, community, government, and global partnerships to achieve fundraising goals and institutional objectives.

Dr. Cortes is a former Commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and has significant experience in all higher education sectors. He is presently a Senior Consultant with the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) in Washington, DC. He has served as President of Berkeley College, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Miami Regional University, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) SUNY, Dean at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Senior Program Officer at the National Foreign Language Center at The Johns Hopkins University, SAIS.

Dr. Cortes' academic journey began at NYC Community College (now named NYC College of Technology). He earned his BA degree from Queens College (CUNY), his MA from the University of Virginia and his PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His passion for teaching led him to a professorship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Carolina State University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Dr. Cortes' commitment to professional development is evident in his postdoctoral work at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was a Klingenstein Visiting Fellow, and at Harvard University's Institute of Education Management. He further honed his skills as an American Council on Education Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.