As it celebrates its centennial this year, Miriam College (formerly Maryknoll College) turns a new leaf with the appointment of its 10th president, Dr. Maria Regina Lucia M. Lizares. She was formally inaugurated in investiture rites held on April 16 at Miriam College (MC), Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
Ushering a new century for Miriam College
In her speech during the investiture rites, Dr. Lizares assured the MC community and stakeholders that together they can work to usher in a new century for the institution. “What I can say with confidence is that we, Miriam College, have real strength. [We have a] community … that remains very vested in our success, and a track record which is forged for us by the Maryknoll Sisters to step into unfamiliar spaces when the moment calls for it.”
Formerly called Maryknoll College, the school was founded by the Maryknoll Sisters of New York in 1926. It is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Under her term, Dr. Lizares will be leading three campuses—MC Loyola Heights in Quezon City, MC Nuvali in Laguna, and the newest, MC Alviera in Pampanga, which opened in 2025.
She pointed out that in the current educational landscape, all three campuses are facing real pressures that are affecting each slightly differently. “There are fewer younger people entering the education pipeline. Individuals, families are still asking the difficult question: Is there still value on the return on my investment in education?” She added that on top of these pressures are persistent concerns about foundational and functional literacy as well as the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, which is changing the way people learn and work.
Under her leadership, Dr. Lizares will focus on how she, with the MC community, can “move together thoughtfully, deliberately, and with a shared responsibility” to make each campus grow.
Dr. Lizares closed her speech by emphasizing that the school’s strength lies in a combination of grounded values, the capacity to take thoughtful risk, and the willingness to pioneer new paths. “This has carried our institution in the last 100 years and it is more important now as we forge our hundred years and beyond,” she said.
Corporate and academic background
Dr. Lizares brings over 20 years of extensive, multi-sector professional experience, including senior leadership roles in multinational firms and more than a decade of distinguished academic service to the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman).
She earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration and MS in Management from UP Diliman. She also holds an MA in International Business and Economic Development, with Distinction, from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, as a British Council Scholar; an MBA (Bilingual Program: English and Spanish) from IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain; and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from UP Diliman where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Prior to her appointment, she was a professor at the UP Diliman’s Cesar E. A. Virata School of Business (VSB) and served as its Dean from 2022–2025. She was recognized as a UP Scientist I, a testament to her scientific productivity and international reputation.
In the corporate front, she has held executive roles in six different companies, including McKinsey & Company (Southeast Asia), ABS-CBN Corporation, and UBS Securities Philippines, with a focus on strategic planning, people development, operations, corporate governance, market research, and strategy execution.
In attendance during the investiture were Commission on Higher Education NCR Regional Director Atty. Marco Cicero F. Domingo, Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Learning Systems Strand Dr. Jerome T. Buenviaje, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Quezon City District Director Atty. Angeline T. Chaves.; members of the Miriam College Board of Trustees led by its Chair Josefina N. Tan; past MC presidents Amb. Quiambao-Del Rosario, Dr. Rosario O. Lapus, Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan, and Dr. Loreta N. Castro; presidents of the different colleges and universities; Dr. Lizares’ colleagues from VSB; the Maryknoll Sisters in the Philippines; and institutional partners.
