Director, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UCMEXUS)
Exequiel Ezcurra, whose 30-year career as a noted plant ecologist honored worldwide for his contributions both as an academic and as an active conservationist, assumed the directorship of UC MEXUS on November 3, 2008. He also holds the position of professor of plant ecology with UC Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences.
Ezcurra's research and policy interests range from nature conservation, the ecology and biogeography of coastal deserts and wetlands, land-ocean interactions, the application of mathematical modeling in ecology and conservation, and the management of natural resources in areas under traditional use.
Ezcurra came to UC MEXUS from the San Diego Natural History Museum's science and research program, the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias, where he was director from 1998-2008, with a four-year hiatus to serve as President of the National Institute of Ecology. He was also Provost of the Museum from 2005-2008. He also served as an adviser to the UCR Center for Conservation Biology. He was a principal researcher at the Instituto de Ecología, Mexican Museum of Natural History, from 1979 to 1987 and full professor and head of the Community Ecology Lab at the National Autonomous University of Mexico from 1987 to 1998. In 1992, he was also appointed Director General of Natural Resources in the Mexican Federal Government. Born in Argentina, Ezcurra moved to Mexico early in life. He completed his higher education at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where he received a master's and a doctorate in plant ecology.
Director, Instituto de Astronomia (IA) de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)
Dr. Gonzalez studied Physics at the Faculty of Sciences of UNAM (1982); got his master’s degree (1984) and PhD (1993) at the University of California, Santa Cruz with the thesis : Line strength gradients and kinematic profiles in elliptical galaxies, under the direction of Sandra Faber, the famous American astronomer. His doctoral thesis and its results have received more than one thousand quotations on specialized literature.
Dr. Gonzalez is one of the most engaged and productive astronomers in the Scientific Instrumentation field of the Institute of Astronomy. His work is reflected in the direction of several high technology instrumentation projects for astronomical observations. The last one, called OSIRIS, was designed for the Gran Telescopio de Canarias in Spain.
Vice President of Research, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)
Dr. Willliam Lee is a physicist; he graduated from the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM. He got his Master’s Degree and PhD in Physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA). He carries a research in accretion phenomena in compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes, gamma-ray flash production, accretion disk’s hydrodynamics, and supernova explosions.
Dr. Lee is an active teacher of a postgraduate course in Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy and of the bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM.
Consulate for Community Affairs, Education, and Culture, Consulate General in San Jose
Counsul General, Consulate General in San Jose
Counsul General, Consulate General in San Jose
Deputy Director, MESA State-Wide Office