Dr. Riordan Roett is the Sarita and Don Johnston Professor of Political Science and Director of Western Hemisphere Studies at The Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.
From 1983 to 1995, Dr. Roett served as a consultant to the Chase Manhattan Bank in various capacities; in 1994–1995 he was the Senior Political Analyst in the Emerging Markets Division of the bank’s International Capital Markets Group. From 1989 to 1997, he served as a Faculty Fellow of the World Economic Forum at the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Dr. Roett is a member of the Board of Directors of a number of mutual funds at Legg Mason, Inc. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Bretton Woods Committee and is a former national president of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).
Dr. Roett’s accomplishments have been widely recognized. For his work on Brazil, he was awarded the Order of Rio Branco with the rank of Commander (2000), and for his role in aiding Chilean scholars during the Pinochet era, in addition to his academic contributions, he was named to the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins with the rank of “Gran Oficial” (2009). In 2004, SAIS announced the establishment of the Riordan Roett Chair in Latin American Studies. The Chair was made possible by a generous gift from Mr. Robert Hildreth, SAIS Advisory Council member and a member of Professor Roett’s first SAIS graduating class in 1975.
Professor Roett’s latest publication, The New Brazil, was published in summer 2010 by the Brookings Institution Press. A Spanish language edition of another recent work, China’s Expansion into the Western Hemisphere: Implications for Latin America and the United States (2008, co-editor and co-author), has been published. Among his other recent publications are: The Andes in Focus: Security, Democracy & Economic Reform (co-editor and co-author); Mexico’s Democracy at Work: Political and Economic Dynamics (co-editor and co-author); Post-Stabilization Politics in Latin America (co-editor and co-author); Latin America in a Changing Global Environment (co-editor and co-author); Exchange Rate Politics in Latin America (editor and co-author); Mercosur: Regional Integration, World Markets (editor and co-author); Brazil Under Cardoso (co-editor and co-author); Brazil: Politics in a Patrimonial Society, 5th ed.; and The Mexican Peso Crisis: International Perspectives (editor and co-author).
Dr. Roett received his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.
Professor Riordan Roett with former Argentine president Fernando De la Rúa, at an asado hosted by the family of former student Francisco de Santibáñes at a family Haras near Buenos Aires.
Recent Media Appearances
Professor Roett discusses links between Venezuela and Iran on Globovision (Venezuela) on April 29, 2010:
Click here for more of Professor Roett's media appearances.
