Frank O. Mora, the new U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, has ties to the local community.
Mora, a professor of political science and international relations at Florida International University’s Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, is the second OAS ambassador from FIU in recent years.
President Joe Biden nominated Mora, who previously headed the FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin America and Caribbean Center (LACC), for the post and the Senate confirmed his nomination last week.
This multilateral organization works to strengthen peace and security in the Western Hemisphere. Mora will direct diplomatic attempts to resolve regional issues on behalf of the United States.
“I am grateful to FIU for the nearly 10 years I have been director and professor at this great institution,” Mora said. “I also thank the Biden administration and the Senate for giving me the opportunity to serve our country in this new role.
Before Mora’s confirmation, FIU board member Carlos Trujillo served as the last permanent ambassador to the OAS under the Trump administration.
Mora was already familiar with issues affecting the Western Hemisphere from 2009 to 2013 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region.
For six years, Mora served as director of FIU’s Kimberley Green Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, which the school says serves as a link between academia and public policy.
Mora has taught national security strategy and Latin American studies at the National War College of the National Defense University and chaired the Department of International Studies at Rhodes College.
Mora’s other work includes consulting for the Library of Congress, the U.S. State Department and U.S. Southern Command.
“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Mora and know he will excel in this new role,” said FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell. “He is a scholar with extensive experience and knowledge of the region.”
At FIU, Mora collaborated with academics, provided research for agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense, published numerous studies, and made political forecasts for the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
“Ambassador Steven J. Green, Mrs. Dorothea Green and I congratulate Dr. Mora on her well-deserved appointment as US Ambassador to the Organization of American States,” said Kimberly Green, who bears the center in his honor. “His work and leadership in the Americas has benefited both FIU and the region, and we are proud to have worked with him during his tenure as director of the Kimberley Green Latin America and Caribbean Center.”
Shlomi Dinar, interim dean of FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, which is home to LACC, said Mora has made LACC one of the nation’s top solutions centers.
“Professor Mora has helped LACC become a major center for solutions to major issues facing the region, and I know he will do the same at OAS,” said Dinar. Mora, who is able to provide critical real-world solutions in the field of foreign policy and international affairs. “
Mora prepared for a career in foreign policy and international affairs.
According to his bio, he earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University, and a master’s degree in American studies and a doctor of philosophy in international affairs from the University of Miami.
Mora also studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in 1984 and participated in a Mesoamerican studies program in Costa Rica in 1988.
Mora is fluent in two foreign languages - Spanish and Portuguese.
