Arturo Porzecanski

File:Dr. Arturo Porzecanski at American University.jpg

Dr. Arturo Porzecanski at American University

Arturo C. Porzecanski (born November 2, 1949) is a Uruguayan economist who has spent the majority of his adult years in the United States, working on Wall Street for nearly three decades and afterwards as a university professor.

Early life

Born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, of European Jewish immigrant parents, Porzecanski came to the United States in early 1968 and earned his B.A. degree in economics at Whittier College (1968-1971) and then his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pittsburgh (1971-1975).

Financial Industry Career

After a summer internship as a visiting economist at the International Monetary Fund (1973), and a year-and-a-half stint as a research economist at the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies in Mexico City (1975–76), he began his Wall Street career as an international economist and country risk analyst at the Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, one of the forerunners of today’s JP Morgan Chase (1977-1989). He went on to become the chief economist at Republic National Bank of New York (1989-1992); chief emerging-markets economist at Kidder, Peabody & Co. (1992-1993); chief economist for the Americas at ING Barings (1994-2000); and chief economist for emerging markets at ABN AMRO (2000-2005). He was recognized in 2005 for his outstanding professional accomplishments on Wall Street and named a “Legacy Laureate” by his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh.

Academia

Porzecanski decided to open up a second act in his professional career in 2005 by becoming a full-time university professor of international economics, a shift in professional direction that was part of a generational handover by pioneers in emerging-markets research who had also taken early retirement and started out on new career paths. Having taught on an adjunct basis at Columbia University and New York University, he was a visiting professor of economics at Williams College in Spring 2005. He was appointed to the faculty of the School of International Service at American University as of Fall 2005, first as Scholar of International Finance and then, as of Fall 2007, as Distinguished Economist-in-Residence. In 2012, he was also named Director of the International Economic Relations Program at SIS. Besides devoting himself to teaching and policy-oriented research in his field, he has provided consulting services to legal and financial firms, as well as to U.S. government agencies and multilateral organizations. He has also been appointed a Dispute Resolution Arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and was a Senior Associate (Non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during 2007-2013.

Patient Advocacy

Since late 2005, Porzecanski has struggled with an exceedingly rare illness, Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome (SCLS), which left him partially disabled and brought him near death several times. He became an international advocate for those affected by the disease, setting up a website for patients and doctors around the world to share information and provide support, and serving as its resident expert. He also persuaded the National Institutes of Health to carry out basic biomedical research on this syndrome. In early 2009, Porzecanski was profiled in the Health section of The Washington Post for this initiative and his determination to cope with this life- and limb-threatening illness. His leadership role as a patient advocate was recognized by Whittier College with an Outstanding Alumni Award for Community Impact.

Scholarship

Porzecanski has published widely in the fields of international finance and Latin American economics, with scholarly articles in many edited volumes and in journals such as Business Economics, Chicago Journal of International Law, Ethics & International Affairs, International Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Developing Areas, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, National Tax Journal, and Law & Contemporary Problems. His only scholarly, sole-authored book, "Uruguay’s Tupamaros: The Urban Guerrilla", a contribution to political science, was published in the United States when he was a 23-year-old graduate student. He has been a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1992, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tinker Foundation since 2007.