Melissa Ibañez, associate vice president of enrollment management and director of financial aid at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, has received the 2021 Hero Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Student Financial Aid Administration.
The award, which was presented to only six financial aid administrators in Pennsylvania this year, is given to a PASFAA member who has made significant contributions, often behind the scenes, to the PASFAA.
“We are so pleased that PASFAA has recognized Melissa’s continuous efforts in her field and honored her with this award,” said Dr. James Baldwin, vice president for enrollment management. “Melissa’s contributions are outstanding.”
This is not the first time Ibañez has been recognized by the PASFAA.
In 2017, she received the Distinguished Service Award for her leadership, activities and research in financial aid. The award is presented to only one financial aid administrator each year.
In 2015, Ibañez received the President’s Award, which is awarded to a financial aid professional whose actions have helped to advance the goals and objectives of the association. Recipients are selected by the PASFAA president.
Ibañez has been working at Pitt-Bradford since September 1999. In addition to her work in the Financial Aid Office, she also is a Veterans Affairs official for the campus.
In addition to being a member of the PASFAA, she is a member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Standards of Excellence Peer Review Team, the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators. She serves on many of these organizations’ committees and frequently presents at conferences and provides training at various workshops.
She is active in her church, serving on its council and the finance committee as well as an usher and auditor. She also has volunteered with the Special Olympics since 1999 and is active with Polk State Center, an intermediate care facility for people with intellectual disabilities.
Before coming to Pitt-Bradford, she served as the associate director and director of financial aid at Syracuse (N.Y.) University College of Law and as the assistant director of financial aid at Seattle University School of Law.
Ibañez holds both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University. She and her husband, Mack, live in Bradford.