Susan Kaufman Purcell

Susan Kaufman Purcell "is Vice President (since 1994) of the Council of the Americas, and also serves as Vice President (since 1989) of the Council's sister organization, the Americas Society. In addition to her work for the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society, Dr. Purcell has done extensive consulting on Latin American economic, trade, investment and political issues for U.S. corporations and for foreign companies.

"Prior to joining the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society, Dr. Purcell was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1981-88). Between January 1980 and June 1981, Dr. Purcell was a member of the U.S. Department of State's Policy Planning Staff, serving under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

"Before joining the U.S. government, Dr. Purcell was a tenured professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (1969-79). She was also a visiting professor at Columbia University (1981). Dr. Purcell is a member of The Economic Club of New York, the Financial Women's Association and the Council on Foreign Relations. She has been an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, a Visiting Fellow at the Overseas Development Council in Washington D.C., and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Other awards and honors include a National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship, a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and a Foreign Area Fellowship. She holds MA and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Columbia University." 

In the past she has been a trustee of Freedom House and has served on the advisory board for the Inter-American Foundation.


 * Advisory Council, International Executive Service Corps
 * Expert for the Cuba Study Group
 * Hemisfile Editorial Board (as of 1996), Institute of the Americas
 * Director, Center for a Free Cuba
 * Former Secretary (1992), National Endowment for Democracy