Back to Officials
Name: Wallace, Roger
Current Position: Former Chair
Roger W. Wallace served as chair of the Inter-American Foundation from October 2004 until 2009. He has a bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Prior to going to Washington, Wallace organized the activities of the newly created Texas Department of Commerce and served as its deputy director. From 1989 to August 1991, he served as the deputy under secretary for international trade at the US Department of Commerce under President George H. W. Bush. In this role he was responsible for coordinating the Commerce Department’s role during the preparatory phases of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. From August 1991 until the summer of 1993, Wallace was the Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the US Embassy in Mexico City. He also was co-chair of the US-Mexico Environmental Business Committee.
Wallace served as president and CEO of Investamex, an investment and consulting firm he co-founded in 1993 focusing on business opportunities in Mexico and Latin America, before becoming vice president for government affairs at Pioneer Natural Resources Company, an independent oil and gas company in Irving, Texas.
He currently serves as co-chair of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the board of the Atlantic Council. He has served as chairman of the Asia Society of Texas, vice chairman of the American Center for International Leadership, president of the Amundsen Institute of US-Mexico Studies, trustee of the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies and chairman of the Executive Council of the Mexican Center at the University of Texas.
Wallace has been a key financial supporter of President George W. Bush. He was dubbed a “Ranger” by the president’s 2000 election campaign because he raised more than $200,000 for the campaign. His appointment to the IAF was made during a Congressional recess - a maneuver often utilized by a president’s fear that a nominee will not be confirmed by the US Senate.