Profile: Ramiro Ortiz

Ramiro Ortiz makes his third appearance as a Miami Today Achiever, which may seem excessive until you consider the many roles in this community he has played. From SunTrust Bank to the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and now on to revamping HistoryMiami along with museum director Stuart Chase, Mr. Ortiz knows more about Greater Miami than almost anyone.

HistoryMiami, rebranded from the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in 2010, is just the latest incarnation of an institution founded in the 1940s. The collections in the museum’s 101 W Flagler St. archives & research center number in the hundreds of thousands, and on any given day you’ll see students, scholars and your average history buff combing through it.

Now, as HistoryMiami gets used to its additional building on the Cultural Plaza, doubling its size to 80,000 square feet, the institution is pushing forward with an aggressive exhibition and program schedule – having completed over 50 educational exhibitions and programs in the past year and a half.

For a look back at Miami history and a look forward at what’s in store for HistoryMiami, Miami Today Reporter Nina Lincoff sat down with Mr. Ortiz at the museum.

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