Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Duran is afully bilingual leader (English and Spanish) with a commitment to studentachievement.

The youngest of four (4)children, Liz Duran Swinford was born in New York and raised in the beautifulisland of Puerto Rico. She graduated from InterAmerican University located inSan Juan, Puerto Rico with a major in Biology, a minor in Secondary Educationand certification to teach Life Science and Biology.  After teaching for nine (9) years shecompleted a Master of Science degree in Educational Leadership in 1992 fromNova Southeastern University located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and subsequentlycompleted the requirements for a degree of Doctor of Education in OrganizationalLeadership with specialization in Educational Leadership, with a grade pointaverage of 4.0 on a four point scale.

As a politically informededucational leader she has been invited to present at National Conferences forthe Southeast Regional International Reading Association Conference, NationalAssociation on School Based Healthcare Centers, and the American Association ofSchool Personnel Administrators. Her writings have been published in the BestPractices Journal for the American Association for School PersonnelAdministrators, where she has served as Chair and Co-Chair for the ProfessionalDevelopment Committee and Representative for Region 5.

Liz Duran Swinford has beenhonored with the following awards: Who's Who Among International BusinessLeaders (1998); Who's Who Among Professionals (2001); and HonoraryMayor-President and Awarded the Key to the City of Baton Rouge (2006). She alsoplays an active role in her community and church. She is married to DarrenSwinford and is mother to 4 adult children and grandmother to 4 boys.

Dr. Swinford has stated that, sheis, “…both humbled and thrilled at the opportunity to lead a school districtlike Tuscaloosa”. Dr. Swinford officially assumed her duties as of June 17,2013.