John P. Salazar is the Chair of the Inter-American Foundation, a U.S. agency that funds foreign assistance programs in the Caribbean and Latin American. Salazar joined the Foundation’s board of directors in 2006 after being nominated by President George W. Bush at the suggestion of Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), a high school classmate of Salazar’s.

 

Salazar was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 6, 1943, and grew up in Belen. He received his B.A. from the University of New Mexico in 1965, and earned his J.D. at Stanford University Law School in 1968.

 

Upon graduation from law school, he joined the law firm of Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb as its only Hispanic attorney. He specialized in real estate, primarily in eminent domain litigation. He chaired the firm’s Business Department from 2000 to 2008 and served as the first Chairman of its Environment and Natural Resources Department. He is also the leader of the Land Use and Real Estate Development Practice Group.

 

He has served as chairman of the board of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce (1975), the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce (2005) and the University of New Mexico Alumni Association.

 

In January 2010, Salazar was elected to the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.

 

Salazar served as chairman of four of Jeff Bingaman’s campaigns for the U.S. Senate, as well as Bingaman’s campaign for attorney general in 1978.

 

Salazar and his wife Terri have three children and three grandchildren. Daughter Monique Bradford works for the city of New York, son Stephen is employed by UBS Paine Webber in Boston, and son John II is a weekend sports anchor for KOAT-TV in Albuquerque.

 

Official Biography (Inter-American Foundation)

John P. Salazar (Rodey Law Firm)

John Salazar Stretched First Job into a 40+ Year Stay (by Dan Vukelich, New Mexico Business Weekly)