Juan Ramón de la Fuente

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de la Fuente and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.

Juan Ramón de la Fuente
De la Fuente in 2012
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2024
President	Claudia Sheinbaum
Preceded by	Alicia Bárcena Ibarra
Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations
In office 18 February 2019 – 13 September 2023
President	Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Preceded by	Juan José Gómez Camacho
Succeeded by	Alicia Buenrostro Massieu
Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
In office 1999–2007
Preceded by	Francisco Barnés de Castro
Succeeded by	José Narro Robles
Personal details
Born	(1951-09-05) 5 September 1951 Mexico City, Mexico
Alma mater	National Autonomous University of Mexico (MD) University of Minnesota (MS)
Profession	Physician
Awards	National Prize for Arts and Sciences (2006)
Scientific career
Fields	Psychiatry, addictions
Institutions	National Autonomous University of Mexico

Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez (born 5 September 1951 in Mexico City) is a Mexican psychiatrist, academician and politician who has served as the secretary of foreign affairs since 2024 in the cabinet of Claudia Sheinbaum. He previously served as secretary of health in the cabinet of President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–1999) and as rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1999 to 2007. He is a professor emeritus of Psychiatry at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Chairs the Board of the Aspen Institute Mexico. From 18 February 2019 to 13 September 2023 he served as the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations.

Education

De la Fuente graduated from Medical School of Medicine from the National Autonomous University in 1976 and trained in Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. When he returned to Mexico he founded the Clinical Research Unit of the Mexican Institute of Psychiatry and joined the Faculty of UNAM's School of Medicine, where he was appointed Dean in 1991. In 1995 he was also elected President of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and a few years later he was appointed Secretary of Health by President Zedillo. In 1999, he resigned his cabinet post to be appointed Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and in 2003 he was reappointed for a second term. In 2008 he was elected President of the International Association of Universities at UNESCO and was called by Ban Ki-moon to be member of the Council of the United Nations University in Tokyo. He sits in several boards in México and abroad, such as El Universal, an influential newspaper in Mexico City. Also, in 2008 he was elected as President of the International Association of Universities.

Awards and recognition

He has written over two hundred papers and fourteen books, and has received numerous awards and honorary degrees such as the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Mayo Clinic, the Presidential Award for Excellence of the University of Texas and a Doctorate on Humane Letters from Arizona State University, amongst many others. He also received from President Vicente Fox the National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico), the highest recognition of Mexico's Government. Dr. de la Fuente is one of the most respected figures in Mexican society.