Biography

Odalys M. Diaz Piñeiro, Ed.D. joined the President’s Office as chief of staff in November 2023. She is responsible for overseeing a wide range of policy issues and management of the staff assigned to the Office of the President, including the management and organization of priority projects and initiatives.

Prior to coming to Howard University, Dr. Piñeiro served as chief of staff at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. There she was responsible for working with vice presidents to help organize, focus and implement Ithaca’s broad strategic work, and for a period, also served as board secretary.

Before joining Ithaca College in 2020, Dr. Dr. Piñeiro served as a senior administrator and advisor to two college presidents in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. At Queens College, she served as the president’s deputy chief of staff and director of strategic initiatives, leading the strategic planning process. At Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, she served as the president’s director of special projects, supporting a number of innovative college-wide programs and partnerships. She has also worked at Hunter College as a project director and was a middle and high school teacher earlier in her career.

Dr. Piñeiro earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a dual major in political science and communications systems and social analysis, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in education administration from New York University.