Merage Professor Named UN International Expert for Cuban Relations
University of California Irvine Merage School of Business Professor William Hernández Requejo was recently named an international expert in foreign investment negotiations for Cuba by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Hernández is the Executive Director of Global Leadership at Merage.
The appointment occurred during a three-day forum held in Havana in September. In a press release, Hernández said, “My participation in this event was made possible because of the vision and the series of exchanges between President Barack Obama and Raul Castro that have enabled us to bring Cuba and the United States closer together.” Hernández was the only American to participate in the meeting.
This fact placed Hernández in the role of providing the perspective of an expert with dual citizenship. UC has initiated ongoing engagements with Cuba, including an association of Merage with the Center for Global Leadership and The Economist. The magazine, with Merage’s support, will host a Cuba Summit in Washington, DC, on December 3, 2015. Additionally, the school will lead a professional residential program in Cuba, to include and involve executives in the growing opportunities and challenges that exist since the trade embargo was lifted.
Hernández, who organized the program, said, “We have been intimately involved in the normalization of Cuba…In 2013, we led the first group of MBA students to Cuba in collaboration with the University of Havana. The experience was inspiring for all who took part… Our school is taking a leadership role.”
The UNDP works to eradicate poverty and to promote inclusion in over 170 countries and territories. The program’s goals, as stated on its website, include “transform[ing] development, strengthen[ing] governance and peacebuilding, prevent[ing] crisis, and help[ing] recovery.”
About the Author
Maggie Boccella
Maggie Boccella, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, is a freelance writer, artist and photographer. She has consulted on various film and multimedia projects, and she also serves as a juror for the city's annual LGBTQIA Film Festival.
