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 association.
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. In 2015, she 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.
Ibañez has worked 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.
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.