Edward Charles Prado (born June 7, 1947) is an American diplomat who is a former

United States ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revoluti ...

from 2018 to 2021. He is a former

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: ...

Background

Prado was born in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

on June 7, 1947. He received an

Associate of Arts An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

degree from

San Antonio College San Antonio College (SAC) is a public community college in San Antonio, Texas. It is part of the Alamo Colleges District and the oldest public two-year college in Texas. The college has an average semester enrollment of 22,028 credit students an ...

in 1967. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in May 1969 and received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1972 from

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

. Prado served as an assistant district attorney in the Bexar County District Attorney's office. Thereafter, in 1976 he served in the Federal Public Defender's office in the Western District of Texas as an assistant public defender. In 1980, Prado was appointed to serve as a Texas state district judge in

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324, making it the state's fourth-most populous county. Bexar County ...

. In 1981, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed Prado to serve as the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Texas. He continued to serve as the US attorney until he became a federal judge.

Federal judicial service

President

nominated Prado to the

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (in case citations, W.D. Tex.) is a federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has ...

to a seat vacated by Judge C. Frederick Shannon, Jr. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 30, 1984 and received his commission on the same day. He remained on that court until he was elevated to the court of appeals on May 13, 2003. Prado was nominated on February 6, 2003 by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to fill a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit created by Judge Robert Manley Parker, who retired on November 1, 2002. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 1, 2003, just under three months after his nomination. Prado received his commission on May 5, 2003. He retired from the Fifth Circuit on April 2, 2018, prior to taking office as U.S. ambassador to Argentina.

Community involvement

Prado has been a leader in numerous

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

s and law-related organizations. He has been a member of the Texas and San Antonio Bar Associations since 1972, including service as a President, and later Director and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Antonio Bar Foundation. Prado serves on the Texas State Bar Crime Victims Committee, and was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve as the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Act Review Committee, from 1991 to 1993. Prado also has been actively involved in community and charitable affairs as a member in community organizations such as: St. Mark's Catholic Church, the Witte Museum Community Advisory Committee, the Philosophical Society of Texas, the Rotary Club of San Antonio and Leadership San Antonio. Prado has reached out to children in the San Antonio community by conducting events in his courtroom as an introduction to the law. He has received many honors and awards, including the following:

St. Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VI ...

Award, St. Mary's University School of Law (2000); Outstanding Alumnus, San Antonio College (1989); LULAC State Award for Excellence (1981); Edgewood I.S.D. Hall of Fame (1981); Achievement Award, U.S. Attorney General (1980); Outstanding Young Lawyer of San Antonio (1980); and Outstanding Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas (1978).

United States ambassador to Argentina

On January 17, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

announced his intent to nominate Prado to be the next

United States Ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revoluti ...

. His nomination was sent to the Senate on January 19, 2018. On March 7, 2018, Prado testified before the

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate charged with leading Foreign policy of the United States, foreign-policy legi ...

. On March 20, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee. His nomination was confirmed by voice vote on March 22, 2018. On May 8, 2018, Prado arrived in Argentina, and presented his credentials to the

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

, allowing him to perform his duties as the 56th U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. He left office on January 20, 2021.

References

External links