EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, HORACE RACKHAM SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES 1998
PhD Political Science (c)
MA Political Science
UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO, RIO PIEDRAS 1991
BA Political Science (Magna Cum Laude)
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE:
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, GLOBAL ALlIANCE FOR TRADE FACILITATION (GATF)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, TRADE
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE ENTERPRISE (CIPE)
Jan 2016- present
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Oct 2014 – Jan 2016
DIRECTOR, AMERICAS
U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
May 2011 – Oct 2014
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR May 2011 – February 2014
EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT February 2014- Oct 2014
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (AACCLA)
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR
LATIN AMERICAN AND HEMISPHERIC STUDIES PROGRAM (LAHSP)
ELLIOTT SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
January 2009 – May 2014
SENIOR ASSOCIATE, LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM (LAP)
WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
January 2007 – February 2011
TRADE POLICY ADVISOR
PUERTO RICO TRADE COMPANY,
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCE
Jul. 2002 – Dec. 2006
AWARDS
2001 — John F. Kingdon Teaching Award, Department of Political Science, University of Michigan
1996 — Latino Leader/Community Volunteer Award, University of Michigan
BOARD MEMBERSHIPS
2014 – 2016— Travel and Tourism Advisory Board member, U.S. Department of Commerce
2015 – 2016 — Cenadores (Puerto Rico diaspora civil society organization)
ADVISORY BOARD POSITIONS
2010-2014 – Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program Advisory Board, Elliott School, George Washington University
2007- 2011 — Advisory Board, Caribbean Studies Association
2002-2004 — Advisory Board, Puerto Rico Export Council, Inc.
1995-1999 — Advisory Board, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, University of Michigan
OTHER MEMBERSHIPS
2014 – 2016 — Commercial Advocacy Center member, U.S. Department of Commerce
2014 – 2016 — Government member, International Security Management Association
RESEARCH AFFILIATIONS
2010 — Latin American Social Sciences Faculty (FLACSO), Buenos Aires, Argentina
2005 — Latin American Trade Network, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1998 — Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay,
Montevideo, Uruguay
1998 — Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1995 — Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po), Paris, France
1994 — Latin American Social Sciences Faculty (FLACSO), Santiago, Chile
PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH WORK (sample)
2013 – Competitive Advantage: Moving Ahead of the Global Competition. Private Sector Priorities for Trade Facilitation in the DR-CAFTA Region. Co-authored with Carolyn Robert, Patrick Kilbride, Erick Feijoo and Reuben Smith Vaughan. Washington DC: Inter-American Development Bank
2012 – “The Hemisphere’s Spaghetti Bowl of Free Trade Agreements” Americas Quarterly, Spring 2012.
2011 – “Haiti and the regional dynamics of international cooperation”, in Jorge Heine and Andrew Cooper (eds.), Fixing Haiti (New York: United Nations University Press.)
2011 - The Cuban Economy: Change and Continuity (ed). Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center
2011 – Latin American Economic Regionalism in Times of Economic Crisis with Andrés López (eds). Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center
2010 – A New Trade Policy for the United States: Lessons from Latin America (ed.). Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center
2010 – La economía política del tratado de libre comercio de Estados Unidos y Perú; with Eduardo Morón (eds.) Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center
2008 – “Crime, Violence, and Security in the Caribbean”. Woodrow Wilson Center Update on the Americas, June 2008.
2003 — “La problemática macroeconómica del MERCOSUR, la crisis argentina y el ALCA”. In Rita Giacalone (ed.), CAN-MERCOSUR a la sombra del ALCA (Banco Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.)
2003 — “A supply-side theory of international institutions for the MERCOSUR”; in Finn Laursen (ed.), Comparative Regional Integration: Theoretical Perspectives”, London: Ashgate.