BALTIMORE – Former Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios, most known for leading the initiative to place a woman’s portrait on U.S. paper currency for the first time in over a century, will deliver a message of inspiration to about 600 Notre Dame of Maryland University graduates at the 2023 Commencement. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24 at the Baltimore Convention Center. The Honorable Rosie Rios will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Notre Dame.
Rios is a pioneering women’s rights advocate and influential leader in real estate finance, economic development, and urban revitalization. As the 43rd Treasurer from 2009-16 serving both terms of the Obama Administration, she initiated and led the U.S. Treasury Department’s efforts to place Harriet Tubman’s portrait on the $20 bill. Upon leaving the Treasury Department, she received the Hamilton Award, the department’s highest honor. In 2019, she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 2020, USA Today named her one of 10 Women of the Century for the state of Maryland.
Rios is currently the CEO of Red River Associates, a real estate investment management consulting firm. She was recently appointed as chair of America250, the Congressional Commission charged with planning the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. She has also served as a Visiting Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. A graduate of Harvard, she was selected as the first Latina in Harvard’s more than 387-year history to have a portrait commissioned in her honor.
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.
