Professor Ofelia Garcia received an MFA in Printmaking and Drawing from Tufts University/Boston Museum School, and a B.A. in Studio Art from Manhattanville College. She had previously begun her studies in art at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, in Havana, Cuba. She is an educator, curator, and arts and higher education administrator.

Professor Garcia came to William Paterson University in 1997 as dean of the college of the Arts and Communication and professor of art. She retired from the deanship in June 2006. She currently serves on the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, to which she was appointed in May 2007 by Governor Corzine. She is Chair Emerita of the Board of the Jersey City Museum, having served in that capacity for 7 years, and remains on the board.  She serves on the Advisory Board of the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Rutgers University.

Prior to William Paterson University, Professor Garcia held a number of art-related positions. For almost a decade, she was executive director and curator of The Print Center and concurrently, critic-in-residence at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, both of Philadelphia. She has taught printmaking and drawing at Newton College and Boston College. She has served as curator or juror of numerous art exhibitions around the country, and has lectured widely on issues on the arts, as well as on higher education.

As a higher education administrator, Professor Garcia served as department chair at Newton College and Studio Chair at Boston College. She was president of the Atlanta College of Art, and later of Rosemont College, in suburban Philadelphia. At that time, she served on numerous boards and organizations related to higher education or to the arts.