Paul L. Cejas was born in Cuba in 1943, where he lived before emigrating to Miami in the 1960s. He attended the University of Miami, where he graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration in Accounting in 1969. He also received a Doctorate honoris causa from Florida International University. He has been a business and civic leader in South Florida for over forty years.
Cejas served as US Ambassador to Belgium from 1998 to 2001. He was the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of CareFlorida Health Systems, Inc., the largest Hispanic-owned healthcare company in the United States, which he sold in 1994. He served as the chairman and CEO of PLC Investments, a family-owned investment firm, and as a director of the pharmaceutical company IVAX Corporation, as well as Mellon Financial. A former banker and a certified public accountant, Cejas was a member of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Board and held the post of chairman. He has been a member of the University of Miami's Board of Trustees since 2003.
