Luis Carlos Ugalde Ramírez (born 1966) is a Mexican scholar who served as president of the

Federal Electoral Institute The Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) (Spanish for ''National Electoral Institute'') (formerly Federal Electoral Institute) (, IFE) is an autonomous, public agency responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those relat ...

(IFE) from 2003 to 2007.

Education

Luis Carlos Ugalde was 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 ...

in 1966. He received a Ph.D. in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

(1999) and a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Political Science (1994) and

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

(1992), all from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He also holds a B.A. in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México The Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (), commonly known as ITAM, is a private university located in Mexico City. It is one of Mexico's most important institutions of higher learning; highly prestigious in the social sciences. It is a ...

(ITAM) (1990).

Career

Ugalde has combined a solid career in academics and consulting with high-ranking positions within the Mexican government. Most notably, he served as president of Mexico's electoral commission (Instituto Federal Electoral, IFE) from 2003-2007, presiding over the institution during the country's bitterly contested 2006 presidential election. Ugalde has taught at various universities in Mexico and the United States, among them the

(ITAM), the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), Harvard University, Georgetown University and American University. In 2011 he was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization in the United States founded in 1983 with the stated aim of advancing democracy worldwide and counter communism, communist influence abroad, by prom ...

in Washington, D.C. In addition to his academic career, he has worked in the Mexican government. He was chief of staff to the

Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when P ...

in 1997 and chief of staff at the Embassy of Mexico to the United States, from 1997 to 2000. Ugalde showed political ambitions form an early stage and was linked to the long time ruling party of Mexico, the PRI, where he served as part of the ideology commission, linked to

Jesús Reyes Heroles Jesús Reyes Heroles (3 April 1921 – 19 March 1985) was a Mexican politician, jurist, historian and academic affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The party acknowledges him as one of its leading ideologues. Professional ...

. He was appointed president of the Federal Electoral Institute by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in October 2003. During the 2006 presidential election, Ugalde came under fire, as one of the candidates demanded a recount in the midst of a widely questioned election. The electoral authorities under Ugalde were accused of being complicit in electoral fraud. Eventually, the pressure from the political parties resulted in a legal reform that would attempt to rectify the illegalities that occurred in the 2006 elections. The 2007 Electoral Reform included the dismissal of Luis Carlos Ugalde from his position by designing a new president of the IFE. The Congress had until December 13, 2007 to designate Luis Carlos Ugalde's successor but postponed the date of the designation of the new president of the IFE until February 2008. Ugalde, following the reforms, decided to leave the IFE on December 14, 2007; he resigned first before the General Council and then filed his resignation before the Congress. He has authored several publications, including ''As I Lived It: A Testimony of the Most Competitive Election in the Modern History of Mexico'' (2008, in Spanish) and ''The Mexican Congress: Old Player, New Power'', published in 2000 by the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

in Washington, D.C. In January 2008, Ugalde became the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University. Then in 2009, Luis Carlos Ugalde joined the faculty of the Department of Political Science at ITAM, where he taught courses on comparative politics, democracy in Latin America, and Mexican politics. Today, Luis Carlos Ugalde is the executive director and founder of Integralia Consultants, a firm dedicated to research and consultancy in areas related to transparency, accountability, good governance, and political and legislative intelligence.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugalde, Luis Carlos 1966 births Living people Academic staff of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Academics from Mexico City Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University staff Mexican people of Basque descent Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni