The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is pleased to announce the long-anticipated June 2020 return of Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez as Vice President of MEMRI. Ambassador Fernandez previously held this position from May 2015 to July 2017, when he left to accept the post of President of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) which he held until June 2020.
Amb. Fernandez has served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer since 1983. Among his positions were:
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Head of the State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from 2012 to 2015
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U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea from 2009 to 2012
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U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Sudan from 2007 to 2009
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Director for Near East Public Diplomacy from 2005 to 2007
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Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy from 2004 to 2005
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Senior public diplomacy positions at the U.S. Embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, and Guatemala
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Foreign Service officer in Kuwait, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and the United Arab Emirates
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USIA desk officer for Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan.
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, Amb. Fernandez has received numerous prestigious awards, among them the Presidential Meritorious Service Award (2008), the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy (2006), and Superior Honor Award for his work in Afghanistan (2003). His performance also garnered Senior Foreign Service performance recognition in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2002. Amb. Fernandez is a graduate of the 46th (2003-2004) Senior Seminar, the State Department's premier senior management course.
After arriving in the U.S. as a refugee from Cuba in 1959, he served in the U.S. Army (1976-1979) and graduated from the University of Arizona and the Defense Language Institute. His writings have been published extensively, in publications such as Brookings: Markaz, ReVista: the Harvard Review of Latin America; Middle East Quarterly; Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society (JAAS); Providence; Cipher Brief; AFPC Almanac of Islamism; Journal of International Security Affairs; Gatestone Institute; The European Conservative; The University Bookman; Foreign Service Journal; Defense Dossier; The Washington Post; and the SAGE Handbook of Propaganda. He has lectured and debated on U.S. foreign policy in numerous public venues worldwide. In addition to English, Amb. Fernandez speaks fluent Spanish and Arabic.
