Claudia Sheinbaum, first scientist to lead a Latin American country
On June 2, left-wing candidate Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, runner-up to the outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as “AMLO”), was elected to the presidency of the Mexican Republic. After being the first woman to lead Mexico City, she became not only the first woman to lead Mexico, but also the first scientist to lead a Latin American country.
“She thus joins the very exclusive club of scientists who have hung up their coats to take the helm of their country,” noted Nature a few days before the election, in an article which predicted his victory based on polls in the country. Among the most eminent members of this club, we can name Angela Merkelphysicist by training, Federal Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.
Raised between a biochemist mother and a chemist father, alongside a brother who is now a researcher in ocean modeling at the Mexican Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Ensenada, Claudia Sheinbaum studied physics at the National University Autonomous Republic of Mexico (Unam) – where she then worked. She also holds a doctorate in energy engineering, obtained thanks to “work carried out in part at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy”, precise Science.
“A scientific and innovative powerhouse”
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