Maria Regina Lucia M. Lizares, Ph.D. takes the helm as the 10th president of Miriam College (formerly Maryknoll College) and is set to be formally inaugurated on April 16, 2026, in investiture rites which will be held at Miriam College (MC) in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. She was appointed by the 15-member MC Board of Trustees and officially started her term in January 2026. She succeeds former Ambassador Laura Quiambao-Del Rosario as president.
Dr. Lizares’s appointment coincides with the year-long celebration of the institution’s 100th year. Her combined background and expertise in business administration, corporate work, and academic leadership brings an exceptional edge to the College as she ushers its next chapter of development, growth, and global engagement. “It is a remarkable privilege to return at such a historic moment,” she said during preparations for her investiture where she is expected to be sworn in by MC Board of Trustees Chair Josefina N. Tan. “As an alumna, I carry deep affection for how this school shaped me. As a leader, it is exciting and humbling to help shape a new chapter for this community.” Dr. Lizares studied in Maryknoll College from pre-school to high school where she graduated in 1984.
Dr. Lizares has earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration and MS in Management from the University of the Philippines Diliman (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.
She 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 at the UP Diliman.
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.
Under her term, Dr. Lizares will be overseeing three Miriam campuses—MC Loyola Heights in Quezon City, MC Nuvali in Laguna, and the recently-opened MC Alviera in Pampanga. “My focus is on evolving how we work so we stay relevant in a rapidly changing context, and on ensuring we continue forming students with competence, conscience, and confidence,” she said.
As the College celebrates its centenary, which will culminate in June 2027, Dr. Lizares is confident that the school will be able to adapt to challenges that are reshaping education. “We are an institution that has never been afraid to move into new, untested spaces when the moment calls for it,” she said. “That mix of grounded values and a willingness to step into the unfamiliar gives us both stability and the capacity to keep evolving,” she added.
Expected to attend her investiture is Commissioner Dr. Myrna Q. Mallari of the Commission on Higher Education, colleagues from VSB, heads and presidents of the different colleges and universities in Metro Manila, Maryknoll Sisters in the Philippines, and institutional partners.
