The Global Adaptation Institute

Ambassador Dieck-Assad obtained her bachelor’s degree in economics (1975) from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), her master’s degree in economic development (1976) at Vanderbilt University and her doctorate in economics (1983) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Before her current position, Ambassador Dieck-Assad was appointed by President Vicente Fox as ambassador of Mexico to Belgium, Luxembourg chief of the Mexican Mission to the European Union, and permanent representative before the European Council (2004-07). In the public sector, she has been undersecretary of economic affairs and international cooperation in the State Department (2003-04) and chief of advisors to the secretary of the State Department (2003) and to the secretary of Economy (2002-03). In the academic sector, she was director of the doctoral program in management at ITESM (EGADE) (1995-2002), while she was also associated with ITESM’s Center for Strategic Studies. She has been full professor of economics at ITESM, professor and chair of the economics department at Trinity University in Washington, D.C. and economics professor at Anahuac University in Mexico City.

In addition, Ambassador Dieck-Assad has been economic advisor to several institutions, including Asesoría Estratégica Económica y Financiera and Consultores Asociados (both consulting firms), financial and banking institutions such as BANCOMER (now BBVA) and the government of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, participating in sector and market analyses, country studies, the local tax system, analyses of the financial sector and the price determination of public goods, among other topics. She was also consultant to the World Bank (1985-87) in Washington, D.C., in charge of the estimation and management of general equilibrium models, their simulation and the analysis of the impact of alternative macroeconomic policies on key economic variables for different countries.

Ambassador Dieck-Assad has given and/or directed courses, seminars and lectures at the professional and graduate levels, as well as for groups of business executives, managers, MBA students and CEOs in Mexico, the United States, Latin America and Europe. She has received multiple honors throughout her career, including: the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, which is the highest honor awarded by the Government and the King of Belgium, for her achievements as Ambassador to Belgium; named best instructor in Executive Programs during 2001 at EGADE, ITESM, Monterrey campus; the awarding of tenure at Trinity University; appointments as research fellow and guest scholar at the Brookings Institution to work on her Ph. D. dissertation; the Sally Butler International Scholarship from the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, as well as the International Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, both awarded to aid her financially in her doctoral studies; a full scholarship from CONACYT (a Mexican government institution devoted to encouraging and promoting the development of scientific and technical knowledge through, among other avenues, scholarships for graduate education abroad) to pursue her doctorate ; a Fulbright scholarship to pursue her master’s degree; and the award El mejor estudiante de México (loosely translated as The Best Student in Mexico), given by CONACYT and the Ateneo de México, for achieving the highest grade point average at the end of her undergraduate studies in economics at ITESM, class of 1975.