Fernando Solana Morales (8 February 1931 – 23 March 2016) was a Mexican diplomat, politician and businessman. He served as the

Secretary of Public Education In Mexico, the Secretariat of Public Education (Spanish language, in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with Cabinet (government), cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseein ...

, of

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and of

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

Biography

Born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Fernando Solana graduated from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

, where has been a professor in economics, Philosophy, and Political Sciences. He has also served as Secretary General of the university. He began his public service career after he was appointed as Secretary of Commerce by president José López Portillo in 1976. Less than one year later, he was appointed Secretary of Education, a position that he retained to the end of the López Portillo administration in 1982. That same year, the new president

Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...

named him General Director of

BANAMEX #redirect Grupo Financiero Banamex Grupo Financiero Banamex S.A. de C.V. has its origins and is the owner of the Banco Nacional de México or Banamex (branded as Citibanamex 2016-2025). It is the second-largest bank in Mexico. The Banamex Finan ...

, the largest private bank in Mexico that had just been nationalized by the previous government, he remained in this charge until 1988 when Carlos Salinas de Gortari named him as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. From 1994 to 2000 he was senator representing the Federal District and chair the senatorial commission on International Affairs. Today he chairs the board of the Mexican Council on Foreign Affairs a non governmental organization, with some 500 independent members that include businessmen, diplomats, professors and people link with the international activities of Mexico. He is also member of the board of some of the largest Mexican corporations, the Institute of the Americas in California, the Mexican American Foundation for Science, Euro America Foundation in Madrid, Canning House in London and president of Solana Consultores, a business consultancy firm.

References

1931 births 2016 deaths Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Mexican diplomats Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Politicians from Mexico City Secretaries of foreign affairs of Mexico Secretaries of education of Mexico 20th-century Mexican politicians National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni {{Mexico-diplomat-stub