{"id":11276,"date":"2011-03-09T11:13:29","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T15:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=11276"},"modified":"2014-11-14T15:34:32","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T20:34:32","slug":"pilot-roger-figueroa-offers-frank-reasons-for-strengthening-ties-with-his-alma-mater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2011\/03\/pilot-roger-figueroa-offers-frank-reasons-for-strengthening-ties-with-his-alma-mater\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot Roger Figueroa offers frank reasons for strengthening ties with his alma mater."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen I see the amazing changes in the university, in the business school, when I see the energy and diversity on campus, I feel such a sense of pride,\u201d said <strong>Roger B. Figueroa<\/strong> (BBA \u201984). \u201cOh, yes, and it was outstanding to see the Panthers win the conference championship and the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like many alumni who were students at Florida International University (FIU) in its early years, Figueroa, now a pilot for UPS, sees enormous growth.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11277\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11277\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/tn_Pictures-for-FIU-004.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11277\" title=\"IF\" src=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/tn_Pictures-for-FIU-004.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aracely, Elizabeth and Roger Figueroa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He also takes his place as one of the newest participants in the College of Business   Administration\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/partners\/business-partners-programs.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Business Partners Program<\/a>, a vehicle for professionals to become more involved with FIU. Through this program, Figueroa plans to serve as a speaker and as a mentor; in addition, he has pledged a $1,000 scholarship donation which UPS will match.<\/p>\n<p><em>Alumnus discovers growing pride in FIU.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Figueroa admits his pride in the school has grown significantly in the last decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompared to when I attended FIU, a true campus life exists now and I\u2019m sorry I missed it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Figueroa points to the law school and medical school as \u201cconcrete evidence\u201d of growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlus the college is achieving true excellence, with more programs and higher rankings than ever before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He has extra reason to care. He and his wife <strong>Aracely Figueroa<\/strong> (MACC \u201995) have a daughter <strong>Elizabeth Figueroa<\/strong> majoring in accounting at FIU.<\/p>\n<p>Figueroa\u2019s own degree was in transportation management. Following graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force, serving in active duty for seven years, including a tour in Afghanistan, and for 20 years as a reservist. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He joined UPS in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>While always a Panther sports fan, it wasn\u2019t until six years ago that Figueroa joined the Alumni Club. Since then he has enjoyed tailgate parties, social events and other alumni opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be more a part of FIU,\u201d he said. \u201cMy scholarship donation is to help a talented but financially-strapped student achieve a business degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen I see the amazing changes in the university, in the business school, when I see the energy and diversity on campus, I feel such a sense of pride,\u201d said Roger B. Figueroa (BBA \u201984). \u201cOh, yes, and it was outstanding to see the Panthers win the conference championship and the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1643,1801,2388,2448],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23750,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276\/revisions\/23750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}