Eileen Ortiz Rivera

Eileen Ortiz Rivera is a full professor in the Department of Business Administration at Inter American University of Puerto Rico Ponce Campus, since 1998. She received her Ph.D. in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development - Interregional and International Business from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico San German Campus. She also has a master's degree in Business Administration in International Trade from Texas A&M International University and has a bachelor's of Business Administration major in Accounting from Inter American University of Puerto Rico, San German Campus.

Currently, Dr. Ortiz is the Director of Entrepreneurial Development Center (CDE) and the Champion of InterEmprende Ponce. As part of her initiatives and projects, she achieved a Collaborative Academic Agreement with the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust and its entrepreneurship programs: Colmena 66, Fase 1, and Parallel 18 for the CDE Ponce Campus.

For the last ten years, Dr. Ortiz has participated in multiple trainings from Georgia Institute of Technology and has several certifications in the area of entrepreneurship. She is a Fellow of the Program for Entrepreneurship Educators at Babson College in Wellesley Massachusetts. As an active research professor, Dr. Ortiz was the first faculty member in the Ponce campus to receive three Seed Funds at the Institutional level of the UIPR (2013, 2015, and 2019). Her research topics cover the areas of family businesses and the development of the business ecosystem in Puerto Rico. She also has several publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. Dr. Ortiz participated in the global research Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) Project for Family Enterprising (Babson College) as a co-researcher in the Case Study Grupo Ferré Rangel (GFR) of Puerto Rico and the Case Study Rovira Biscuits Corporation.

Dr. Ortiz professional career outside of academia includes consulting family businesses, nonprofit organizations, and women entrepreneurs. She was a member of the board of directors of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Puerto Rico, and Caribbean Affiliate. In addition, she was a reviewer of the Journal of Small Business Management (JSBM). Outside of professional interests, she likes to practice the sport of swimming, she loves to travel, drink a lot of coffee, and collect magnets from different countries, museums, and universities. An important aspect of Dr. Ortiz life is family time with her two sons Diego and Camila, who support and love her unconditionally.