Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 4/11/00
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   28

Editors: Photo accompanies release
IDB PRESIDENT TO PRESENT SLU COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
     HAMMOND -- Enrique W. Iglesias, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, 
will be the keynote speaker at Southeastern Louisiana University's May 13 commencement
program at 10 a.m. in the University Center on University Avenue. 
     At the commencement ceremony, Southeastern President Sally Clausen will award an
honorary Doctor of Humanities degree to Iglesias, recognizing his contributions to the social and
economic development of the hemisphere.
     Iglesias, now in his third five-year term as head of the IDB, most recently was in New
Orleans for the bank's annual meeting. While in New Orleans, he received the city's
International Order of Merit. As IDB president, he has negotiated two "General Increase of
Resources" for the IDB to spur reform, liberalization and integration in member countries and to
support a program of modernization for the IDB. He also helped to start the Inter-American
Investment Corporation, the bank's affiliate for providing direct assistance to small and medium-
sized private enterprises.
     During his tenure, the IDB has spotlighted social programs and initiated projects to
strengthen civil society and improve governance. Bank operations have been reorganized to
strengthen field staff, quicken decision making and enhance efficiency.
     Prior to joining the IDB, Iglesias, a native of Asturias, Spain, served as Uruguay's
minister of external relations. He also was  executive secretary of the United Nations' Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, secretary general of the UN's Conference on
New and Renewable Sources of Energy and  president of Uruguay's Central Bank.
     Iglesias began his professional career as managing director of the Union de Bancos del 
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IGLESIAS   Add One
Uruguay. From 1964 to 1967 he served as the country's delegate to meetings of the Latin
American Free Trade Association and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the 
Caribbean. 
     In the academic field, he was professor of economic development at Uruguay's
University of the Republic and director of the university's Institute of Economy. 
     Iglesias has written many articles and papers on Latin American and Uruguayan
economic concerns, including  "Latin America on the Threshold of the 1980s," "The Energy
Challenge," and "Development and Equity: The Challenge of the 1980s." His international
awards and prizes include honors from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Korea, Mexico,
Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
     A naturalized Uruguayan citizen, Iglesias is a graduate of the University of the Republic
of Uruguay in economics and business administration and also studied in the United States and
France.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp00.htm