Fernando Solana

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Solana and the second or maternal family name is Morales.

Fernando Solana Morales (February 8, 1931 – March 23, 2016) was a Mexican diplomat, politician and businessman. He served as the Mexican Secretary of Public Education, of Commerce and of Foreign Affairs.

Fernando Solana
President of the Senate
In office 1 November 1997 – 30 November 1997
Preceded by	María de los Ángeles Moreno
Succeeded by	Heladio Ramírez
Senator for the Federal District
In office 1 November 1994 – 31 August 2000
Preceded by	Porfirio Muñoz Ledo
Succeeded by	Jesús Galván Muñoz
Secretary of Public Education
In office 29 November 1993 – 11 May 1994
President	Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Preceded by	Ernesto Zedillo
Succeeded by	José Ángel Pescador Osuna
In office 9 December 1977 – 30 November 1982
President	José López Portillo
Preceded by	Porfirio Muñoz Ledo
Succeeded by	Jesús Reyes Heroles
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 December 1988 – 29 November 1993
President	Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Preceded by	Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor
Succeeded by	Manuel Camacho Solís
Secretary of Commerce
In office 1 December 1976 – 9 December 1977
President	José López Portillo
Preceded by	José Campillo Sainz
Succeeded by	Jorge de la Vega Domínguez
Personal details
Born	(1931-02-08)8 February 1931 Mexico City, Mexico
Died	23 March 2016(2016-03-23) (aged 85) Mexico City, Mexico
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary
Education	National Autonomous University of Mexico

Biography

Born in Mexico City, Fernando Solana graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where has been a professor in economics, Philosophy, and Political Sciences. He has also served as Secretary General of the university.

He began his public service career after he was appointed as Secretary of Commerce by president José López Portillo in 1976. Less than one year later, he was appointed Secretary of Education, a position that he retained to the end of the López Portillo administration in 1982. That same year, the new president Miguel de la Madrid named him General Director of BANAMEX, the largest private bank in Mexico that had just been nationalized by the previous government, he remained in this charge until 1988 when Carlos Salinas de Gortari named him as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. From 1994 to 2000 he was senator representing the Federal District and chair the senatorial commission on International Affairs. Today he chairs the board of the Mexican Council on Foreign Affairs a non governmental organization, with some 500 independent members that include businessmen, diplomats, professors and people link with the international activities of Mexico. He is also member of the board of some of the largest Mexican corporations, the Institute of the Americas in California, the Mexican American Foundation for Science, Euro America Foundation in Madrid, Canning House in London and president of Solana Consultores, a business consultancy firm.