Bill Richardson

• Follow Gov. Richardson on Twitter: @GovRichardson.

The Honorable Bill Richardson is the senior fellow for Latin America at the Baker Institute. In this role, Richardson provides substantive direction to the institute’s Latin America Initiative by enhancing the program’s policy focus on crucial issues, including immigration, natural resources and energy, as well as the emerging roles of key countries such as Brazil.

Richardson was elected to two terms as governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2010. After leaving office, he founded the Richardson Center for Global Engagement to promote international peace and dialogue by addressing specific conflicts and unresolved problems facing the world today. He also serves as a special envoy for the Organization of American States, focusing on immigration and economic development in the Western Hemisphere. Richardson is chairman of APCO Worldwide’s executive advisory service, Global Political Strategies (GPS).

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, Richardson represented New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District until 1997. He then became the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In 1998, he was confirmed as secretary of energy in President Bill Clinton's cabinet. Throughout his career in public office, Richardson has been tasked with negotiating for the release of U.S. citizens held in countries with which the United States had difficult relations, including Iraq, North Korea and Sudan. Richardson has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Richardson received a B.A. from Tufts University and an M.A. from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He grew up in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish.