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Document Type
Video
Abstract
Professor Marco Carvalho's career at Florida Tech is a story of ascending from a research background into crisis-era administration, followed by a planned, but delayed, return to faculty. Originally from Brazil, he joined Florida Tech in 2010 after a successful career that included service in the Brazilian Navy, a master's in mechanical engineering, software entrepreneurship in the US, and a decade as a principal investigator at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). He quickly moved into leadership roles, serving as Dean of the College of Engineering and Science—a merger driven by financial necessity—before becoming Provost and Executive Vice President in 2020. In this role, he was central to the difficult and ultimately successful decision to keep the university open during the early, uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a choice he credits with the university's survival and subsequent growth. This period also saw the painful necessity of staff and faculty reductions, and the eventual cutting of the football program for financial stability.
The sudden resignation of President McCay in 2022 led to Professor Carvalho serving as Acting President. This experience, while affirming his skill for operational leadership, confirmed his preference for research over the public-facing demands of the presidency. His subsequent plan to return to faculty was immediately postponed to establish FTRI (Florida Tech Research Institute), a separate entity needed to manage the university's classified research after the new president declined the role of Senior Management Official (SMO). Looking forward, Professor Carvalho is highly optimistic about Florida Tech's future, provided the institution maintains its strength in applied research and embraces a culture of administrative rotation and external hiring to ensure a constant influx of fresh perspectives and avoid repeating past mistakes.
Publication Date
10-29-2025
Recommended Citation
Carvalho, Marco and Patterson, Gordon, "Oral History Interview with Marco Carvalho" (2025). Oral History Videos. 34.
https://repository.fit.edu/oh_videos/34
Interview Transcript -Carvalho