image_pdfimage_print

In August, Miami Dade College (MDC) Medical Campus named Dr. Bryan Stewart as its new campus president.

“I am honored to join a college system like Miami Dade College and have met so many wonderful colleagues across the institution,” he says. “With this said, I’m proud to say, I am MDC.”
 
Dr. Stewart has been working and teaching in community colleges for 32 years. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from Tarleton State University in Mathematics, he obtained a Master’s degree from the University of North Texas in Mathematics, and his Ph.D. in College and University Teaching with a minor in mathematics from the University of North Texas.
 
He began his career teaching mathematics at Tarrant County College, Northwest Campus in Texas where he had the opportunity to serve as department chair of mathematics and physics as well as president of the campus Faculty Association. Dr. Stewart also served as faculty advisor to the campus honor society, Phi Theta Kappa. After 10 years at the Northwest Campus, he was promoted to the founding Dean of Math, Science & Technology for its new Southeast Campus located in Arlington, Texas. In that role, he created a college dual credit program that has grown to 1,400 students on that campus. He also developed and revised numerous technical programs. Additionally, Dr. Stewart served as president of the Mansfield Rotary Club, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and numerous other committees and civic activities in his 13 years.
 
In 2008, he was named founding Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Trinity River Campus in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. On this campus, he merged the nursing program and health science programs—both had been around for over 40 years—onto one campus. He also designed its new Health Profession Campus with a state-of-the-art simulation lab (LIVE Living in a Virtual Environment).
 
Opening this new campus and building it from the ground level is what he calls one of his greatest career achievements.
 
“Having the ability to hire all the faculty and staff and instill my higher education philosophy was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” he says. “I created a Disney culture of service by giving every full time employee on the campus a book based on a Disney success model that helped embed a unique and one-of-a-kind customer service mentality in our campus.”
 
In the last two years, he added 13 new Health Science programs and developed partnerships with area hospitals to deliver corporate customized training and professional development for employees.
 
“The feel and culture when you walk on the campus is unmistakably student-focused,” he adds. “After 10 years those values are still prevalent across the campus. My goal is to develop a similar culture at the Medical Campus that will help develop students who have a customer service bedside manner and are the top-trained professionals in their field.”
 
Among the top reasons he came to Miami Dade is because of Dr. Eduardo Padron, president of Miami Dade College.
 
“His knowledge of higher education and the opportunity to serve under his guidance was a major reason I accepted this position,” says Dr. Stewart. “I also was very impressed with the nursing and health science programs Miami Dade College offers.”
 
Another major attraction for him was the Florida hospital system.
 
“As I worked in Texas, many times I heard about the quality and creativity in Florida and having the chance to work with health care leaders in this state was a professional goal of mine,” he explains. “As I have had the chance to meet my faculty and staff, I have realized how much talent and knowledge the campus possesses. I am energized by their dedication to our students and their ability to provide quality health care professionals to south Florida.”
 
One the greatest challenges facing the Medical Campus today is two-fold, according to Dr. Stewart.
 
“First, we need to remain aware of the changing job market,” he says, “Research shows that 50% of the jobs in 2030 in the medical field do not exist today. The Medical Campus must continue to work with hospital leaders to respond to those new jobs and make sure the current programs stay up to date on technology advances and industry demands.”
 
The second critical challenge to the Medical Campus is the competition from proprietary schools.
 
“These schools are luring our future students away for a comparable degree at a much higher cost to students,” he says. “The Medical Campus needs to continue recruiting qualified students.”
 
Since coming onboard in late August, his first goal has been to learn the culture of the Medical Campus and get to know as many students, faculty and staff as he can.
 
“I am working to be a visible and approachable leader,” he says.
 
In fact, during his long and distinguished career, his most important lesson learned is that relationships matter.
 
“At every job I have ever had, I knew that the people were the most valuable resource and I made sure that anyone I worked with knew that they genuinely mattered to me,” he says.
 
Another goal Dr. Stewart has for the campus is opening of a new 95 million dollar simulation building and parking garage.
 
“Our current students have been very patient as we make these significant parking improvements,” he says. “I have ridden on the bus with students, many who park two miles away and are bused to campus.”
 
The addition of the parking garage alone will make a huge impact for students, he notes. In addition, the new simulation building opening in the fall of 2019 will allow many of the programs to grow and give other programs new space on the existing campus.
 
“We will also be able to add new programs and one of the most exciting opportunities is to develop customized training for area hospital partners,” says Dr. Stewart. “One last goal is to connect the Medical Campus to the community and create a campus that is considered a Center of Excellence in Health Care in the country. To that end, over the last few weeks I have been meeting with hospital leaders all over Miami Dade county and I look forward to continuing to make those connections.”