Mr. Ned StrongExecutive Director of David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies

Executive Director, DRCLAS

Ned Strong joined the Center in 2010 as the Program Director for the DRCLAS Regional Office in Chile. In June 2014 he was named Executive Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, based in Cambridge. Since 1997, he served as Executive Director of LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Harvard University. He led the organization’s efforts to address social, economic, and scientific needs in Latin America and the Caribbean through educational exchange programs sponsored by multilateral banks, U.S. and Latin American governments, and foundation and corporate donors, to strengthen institutions in the Americas through scholarship programs leading to advanced degrees and through specialized professional training.

A member of LASPAU’s senior staff since 1983, Mr. Strong was previously director of external relations and program development, responsible for the design, development, and funding of exchange programs supporting environmental sustainability, educational reform, and economic growth. Prior to joining LASPAU, he was budget director for the Latin American region of the Peace Corps in Washington, DC, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. As a national fellow of the Explorers Club, he led the 1999 expedition that charted the source of the Amazon River, a glacial lagoon at 18,000 feet in southern Peru. He serves on advisory boards for educational and social services organizations, including Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, the Superior Council of Education of Chile, and the Alliance for Education and Cultural Affairs. He has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and received a bachelor's of science degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.