Ernesto Zedillo

Ernesto Zedillo

Ernesto Zedillo is Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization; Professor in the Field of International Economics and Politics; Professor of International and Area Studies; and Professor Adjunct of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He served as President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. 

He began his career with the Central Bank of Mexico, eventually becoming the Undersecretary of Budget for the National Government of Mexico before serving as Secretary of Economic Programming and the Budget. In 1992, Zedillo was appointed Secretary of Education. 

Zedillo currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute; the 21st Century Advisory Council of the Berggruen Institute; and Co-Chair of the Inter-American Dialogue. He serves on the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and is a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders using their collective experience and influence for peace, justice, and human rights worldwide. 

He has served on numerous international commissions, including as Vice Chair of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security with Kofi Annan (2010 – 2012), chair of the Global Development Network (2005 – 2011), Co-Chair of the Regional Migration Study Group (2010 – 2013) and Chair of the High Level Commission on Modernization of World Bank Group Governance (2008 – 2010). 

He previously served on the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, as Chair of the Commission to recommend the future course of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as co-chair for the Partnership of the Americas Commission with Thomas Pickering, and as co-chair for the Commission on Drugs and Democracy with former Presidents Cardoso of Brazil and Gaviria of Colombia. 

Zedillo is a Member of the G30 and the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is a Distinguished Practitioner of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and in 2011 he was elected an international member of the American Philosophical Society. 

Zedillo earned his Bachelor’s degree from the School of Economics of the Natìonal Polytechnic Institute in Mexico and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Yale University and holds honorary degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities; the University of Ghana; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and the University of Miami.

 

THE AURORA PRIZE SELECTION COMMITTEE

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Elie Wiesel (1928 – 2016)

First Co-Chair

President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; Nobel Laureate

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Lord Ara Darzi

Chair

Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London

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George Clooney

Honorary Co-Chair

Co-founder, The Sentry; Humanitarian, performer and film maker

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Chelsea Clinton

Member

Vice Chair, Clinton Foundation; Vice Chair, Clinton Health Access Initiative

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Leymah Gbowee

Member

Liberian peace activist and women’s rights advocate; Nobel Laureate

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Dele Olojede

Member

Journalist, Writer, Pulitzer Prize Winner

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Paul Polman

Member

Business leader, climate and equalities campaigner

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John Prendergast

Member

Human Rights Activist and Co-founder, The Sentry

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Dame Louise Richardson

Member

President, Carnegie Corporation of New York

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Mary Robinson

Member

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Former President of Ireland

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Hamdi Ulukaya

Member

Founder, Tent Partnership for Refugees; Founder and CEO, Chobani

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Ernesto Zedillo

Member

Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization; Former President of Mexico

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Vartan Gregorian (1934 - 2021)

Member

Co-founder, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative; President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

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Benjamin Ferencz (1920–2023)

Honorary Co-Chair

Lawyer, Human Rights Activist

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Elie Wiesel (1928 – 2016)

First Co-Chair

President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; Nobel Laureate

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Lord Ara Darzi

Chair

Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London