New Miriam College president calls on school community to ‘step into unfamiliar spaces’

Editor’s note: This press release is sponsored by Miriam College and was handled by BrandRap, the sales and marketing arm of Rappler. No member of the news and editorial team participated in the publishing of this piece.

As Miriam College celebrates its centennial this year, the institution 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 the Marian Auditorium of Miriam College (MC) in 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 changed its name to Miriam College in 1989 after more than a decade of transferring the reins of the school from religious to lay.

Dr. Lizares was appointed by the 15-member MC Board of Trustees and officially started her term as president in January 2026, succeeding former Ambassador Laura Quiambao-Del Rosario.

In her welcome address, MC Board of Trustees chair Josefina N. Tan assured the new president that she has both the board and the community’s full support. Tan also pointed out her crucial role as a leader, as students inherit a world that is ‘more complex and more demanding’ in many ways. “The question before us is not whether this institution will endure. It’s how it will lead,” Tan stressed. “You are called to honor what has been built while courageously shaping what must become. You carry with you not only the responsibility of stewardship but privilege of transformation.”

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. 

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. 

Leading three campuses

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. In her speech, she referred to the campuses as her children with shared values, responsibility, and history but each with its own personality.

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. She added that she intends to bring discipline to both decision making and leadership. “My commitment is straightforward—to bring clarity, to bring coherence, to bring constancy, and to approach decision with rigor, grounded in evidence, informed judgement, and a clear understanding of our realities.” 

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. 

In attendance during the investiture were the members of the Miriam College Board of Trustees led by its chair Josefina N. Tan, who also administered Dr. Lizares’ oath of office. This was witnessed by the school’s past women presidents Amb. Quiambao-Del Rosario, Dr. Rosario O. Lapus, Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan, and Dr. Loreta N. Castro. 

Giving a special message for Dr. Lizares 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, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Quezon City District Director Atty. Angeline T. Chaves. Also in attendance were heads and presidents of the different colleges and universities, including Atty. Angelo Jimenez of UP Diliman, Fr. Roberto C.  Yap of the Ateneo de Manila University, Atty. John Philip R. Yeung of the University of Asia and the Pacific, and Br. Bernard S. Oca of De La Salle University; Dr. Lizares’ colleagues from VSB; the Maryknoll Sisters in the Philippines; and institutional partners. – Rappler.com