- Spring 2010
Manny Diaz was first elected City of Miami mayor in 2001, having never before held elective office. He was reelected to a second term in 2005, and was chosen to lead the United States Conference of Mayors as its president in 2008.
Diaz has developed a vision for Miami in which it is an international City that embodies diversity, economic opportunity, effective customer service and a highly rated quality of life. To achieve this goal, Diaz re-engineered Miami government from top to bottom.
During his two-term tenure, Diaz was recognized for completely transforming the City of Miami, and for many nationally recognized innovative programs in the areas of urban design, sustainability and green initiatives, education, affordable housing, law enforcement, poverty and homelessness, and arts and culture.
Diaz was recognized as one of America’s Best Leaders by US News and World Report and The Center for Public Leadership (Kennedy School of Government); the Urban Innovator of the Year by the Manhattan Institute; Americans for the Arts-National Award for Local Arts Leadership; American Architectural Foundation Keystone Award; Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce Power Leader of the Year and Green Visionary Awards; the Government Award by Hispanic Magazine; the Business Leader of the Year Award by South Florida CEO Magazine; and was named an Outstanding American by Choice by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.
Diaz serves on the advisory board for the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Civic Innovation, the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research and the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and he was chosen as a judge for the Rudy Bruner Award for excellence in urban design.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Diaz immigrated to the United States with his mother, Elisa, in 1961. Growing up in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, Diaz attended Belen Jesuit Prep School, Miami-Dade College, Florida International University and the University of Miami’s School of Law.
Manny Diaz’s Study Group:
America's Cities: Re-building America from the Ground Up
Day: Tuesdays
Time: 4:00-5:30PM
Location: L166
