Cristina Eguizabal

Cristina Eguizábal, "a respected political scientist who has run Ford Foundation programs in Latin America for more than a decade, has joined Florida International University as director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC).

"Eguizábal, the third director in LACC’s 28-year history and the first hired from outside of FIU, plans to boost the center’s work in Mexico and Brazil, the region’s two largest countries and economies, by collaborating with institutions and establishing research projects in those nations...

“"Eguizábal was chosen after an international search to replace outgoing director Eduardo Gamarra, who will return to full-time teaching and research after a one-year sabbatical...

"For the past 12 years, Eguizábal has worked for the Ford Foundation where she ran programs in Mexico and Central America. Eguizábal, who has a Ph.D. in Latin American Studies from the University of Paris-Sorbonne Nouvelle, was director of graduate programs in political science at the University of Costa Rica and also previously taught at Florida International University, the University of Miami, the University of Bordeaux, and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences."

Cristina Eguizábal is the director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. Before moving to Miami and joining FIU she served as a program officer at the Ford Foundation Mexico City office working on Peace and Social Justice issues. Her portfolio included grants on peace, security, and regional cooperation in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere in general. Between 1995 and 2003 she was a member of the Human Rights and International Cooperation unit at the Ford Foundation in New York.

• Vice Chair, Washington Office on Latin America
• Director, Hispanics in Philanthropy (since 2008)