Leonel Fernández

Former President of the Dominican Republic; President Funglode/GFDD

Leonel Fernández was President of the Dominican Republic during three different terms (1996-2000; 2004-2008 and 2008-2012). As a professor he taught various generations of journalists and communications students at the State-run university. Specifically, he taught courses related to the rights of the press, history, sociology of communication and international relations. He also taught at the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences (FLACSO). An avid reader, Dr. Fernández is recognized as one of his generations most distinguished academics and professionals of his generation. His prestige is based on a solid academic formation and his excellent speaking skills. He speaks fluent English and French. For his contributions to the political sciences he has been distinguished by world-renowned universities with honorary Doctor Honoris Causa degrees from the Sorbonne (1999); Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU); Seton Hall University, New Jersey (2000); Santiago de Chile State University(2002); Lehman College (2002); Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey (2004); Nova Southeastern University, Florida (2005); Universidad de Massachusetts; Panama’s State University; Cultural University of China, Taiwán; Hankuk University, South Korea, (2006); and the University of Paris 8 (2013). He is the founder and president of three non-profit organizations: the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE); the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), its sister organization in the United States, and the Dominican Association of the United Nations (ANU-RD). He is also founder and president of the Council of Regents of the Global Institute for Higher Studies in the Social Sciences; the Dominican Council on International Relations, and president of the Council for Relations between the Arab World, Latin America and the Caribbean. He is also Vice President of the Group of Prominent Individuals from African, Caribbean and Pacific Nations, and distinguished member of various councils and international institutions, such as, to mention but a few: the Montevideo Circle, the Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government, the Carter Center, the Board of Director of the Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica magazine; the Inter-American Dialogue; the Club de Madrid and the Executive Club United States-Caribbean.