FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 5, 2007
- NEWS RELEASE -
WASHINGTON—Congressman Jim Leach and Appellate Judge Vanessa Ruiz today joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Board of Trustees.
Making the announcement, James C. Gaither, Chairman of the Board, said:
“I am delighted to welcome both Congressman Leach and Judge Ruiz to the Carnegie Board. Jim Leach brings with him 30 years of distinguished service as a member of Congress with notable expertise in international relations, particularly in Asian affairs.
“Vanessa Ruiz brings with her a deep intellect and vast experience as lawyer, scholar and judge. Both will add considerably to the breadth of the Carnegie Board.”
“The addition of Congressman Leach and Judge Ruiz to the Endowment’s Board of Trustees further strengthens an already strong body as we embark on the implementation of our NEW VISION, the Carnegie Endowment’s transformation into the first multinational - and ultimately global - think tank,” said Jessica T. Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “I look forward to their insight and guidance as we enter the Endowment’s challenging next phase.”
“The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has a well-deserved reputation for being a leading think tank in global and international affairs,” Congressman Leach said. “I look forward to the opportunity to contribute to its important work of increased dialogue and understanding among nations in the interest of national and global security.”
“I am delighted to join the distinguished Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment at this exciting time, when the Endowment is undertaking efforts to enhance the international impact of its excellent work on the crucial and interrelated issues of peace, economic development, human rights and the rule of law,” Judge Ruiz said.
Notes:
1. Congressman Jim Leach:
Congressman Leach’s distinguished Washington career includes 30 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as Chairman of the Banking and Financial Services Committee and as a member of the House International Relations Committee. An Iowa native, he has been a career public servant, holding positions as a Foreign Service Officer, Congressional staffer, and as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.
Congressman Leach received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, and graduate degrees from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, and the London School of Economics. Drawing upon his experience as Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the House Committee on International Relations from 1995 to 2001, he recently joined the Woodrow Wilson School of School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University as visiting professor.
2. Judge Vanessa Ruiz:
Judge Vanessa Ruiz was appointed to the District Court of Appeals in 1994 by President Clinton after serving as Corporation Counsel (now the Attorney General) for the District of Columbia. Judge Ruiz chairs the D.C. Courts’ Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct and is a member of the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission. In 2001, she was named “Judge of the Year” by the Hispanic National Bar Association and is the Immediate Past President of the National Association of Women Judges and serves on the Board of Managerial Trustees of the International Association of Women Judges.
The co-author of Europe Without Frontiers: A Lawyer's Guide, Judge Ruiz speaks on issues of judicial independence, including civil society initiatives to improve and strengthen the judiciary and the importance of citizen understanding of the judiciary and judicial participation in citizen education in a democratic society. She has addressed the delegates to the Organization of American States and various conferences in Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Lima.
Judge Ruiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is a 1975 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Wellesley College.
3. For more information about the Carnegie Endowment, please visit: www.carnegieendowment.org
4. Press contact: Trent Perrotto, (tel) 202/939-2372, tperrotto@ceip.org
5. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results.
###