January 05, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Guanche, M.S., 954-201-7514 | cguanche@broward.edu

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Broward College is proud to announce that Rabia Azhar, a longtime Broward College employee, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Jose Llontop has been selected as Chief Strategy Officer.

“I’m excited to work with two dedicated executives who align with our academic mission and shared vision of becoming the number one destination for academic excellence. Both Rabia and Jose are solid professionals who will add value to our team and bring major expertise to the college,” says Broward College President Torey Alston. 

Rabia Azhar has over 20 years of progressive leadership experience across higher education, government, nonprofit, and publicly held global organizations. She currently serves as Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer. Working closely with presidents, executive leadership teams, and boards, her background includes senior finance roles at Broward College; the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College; the International Rescue Committee (Headquarters, New York); and publicly held global organizations such as Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe (Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare). Across these environments, she has led enterprise financial operations, ERP implementations, governance and compliance initiatives, and cross-functional operational strategy in complex, regulated, and high-growth settings. Azhar holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pace University, a Master of Business Administration from National American University, and has completed executive education in Alternative Investments through Harvard Business School Online.

Jose Llontop brings more than 30 years of general management experience in the Building Materials and Industrial Manufacturing sectors. Llontop is an Independent Director of the Board at the Barton Group, where he serves as the Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee and member of the Nominating & Governance and Executive Committees. Additionally, he was an Executive Partner at Salt Creek Capital, a San Francisco Bay Area-based private investment firm. Prior to these roles, Llontop was President & CEO at Giant Cement Holding Inc. He has lived in 10 countries and has extensive domestic and international experience, and performed business turnarounds in several regions, most notably as the CEMEX Regional President of a $1 billion vertically integrated business in Central Eastern Europe & Israel. Before that, Llontop was President of the company’s $250 million Egyptian operations.  He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Rice University. 

These new leadership appointments follow last month’s announcement of Terry Mularkey as the new Vice President of Advancement & CEO of the Broward College Foundation.

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