In Detail

In 1969 Dr. Zedillo entered the National Polytechnic Institute, graduating as an economist when he began lecturing. In 1974 he pursued his master's and Ph.D. studies at Yale University. Raised in a working-class family, he joined Mexico's ruling party in 1971. As secretary of the Ministry of Programming and Budget, he controlled Mexico's huge foreign debt, reduced inflation, and balanced the budget. Elected president after the assassination of the original PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, he undertook reforms to reduce poverty, root out corruption, and continue democratizing the electoral system. He is chairman of the board of the Global Development Network and also serves on the board of the Institute for International Economics, the International Crisis Group and the World Economic Forum.