Ernesto Martens Rebolledo (born January 28, 1933 in Tilapan,

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

) is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

chemical engineer, who has occupied several high-profile business positions and was

Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...

during Vicente Fox's government. He was born in a small town close to the

Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve The Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve or Biósfera Los Tuxtlas, is a biosphere reserve located in the coastal and higher elevations of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, in Los Tuxtlas of Veracruz state, in south eastern Mexico. Ecoregion The area is notable ...

in Veracruz. He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Tec de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey in 1956, where he met the founder of the school

Eugenio Garza Sada Eugenio Garza Sada (January 11, 1892 – September 17, 1973) was an industrialist in the city of Monterrey, Mexico best known for founding the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) school system in the country. Garza ...

. He did postgraduate studies in the Technological Institute of Karlsruhe in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and in

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. His first position was with Union Carbide Headquarters where he remained for eighteen years, becoming its CEO. In 1977, he began with a Monterrey glass company called Vitro, becoming its first non-family CEO in 1985. During his tenure, he expanded the company’s business from glass bottles into plastic containers, suitcases and washing machines with joint ventures with

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, Corning,

Samsonite Samsonite International S.A. () is an American premium luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. The company was founded in Denver, Colorado, United States. Its regis ...

and

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

. He led Vitro into the U.S. glass market in the early 1980s, when Mexican demand for its products slowed and led to the only hostile takeover of a U.S. company by a Mexican company when Vitro took over Anchor Glass Container Corporation in 1989. However, he made some controversial decisions including a 1992 decision to lay off 3,000 workers, where before the company used to claim that it gave workers “a way of life.” In 1994, he became president of the board of Cintra (Corporación Internacional de Transporte Aereo), the entity which ran Mexico’s two state airlines, Aeromexico and Mexicana. He restructured the finances and operations of the two airlines and was credited with saving them. In 2000, Martens was named

by President

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...

, a position which he held until 2003. His nomination by Fox was something of a surprise and Martens had not considered a career in government before. His appointment as energy chief was thought to be last-minute and that Fox might keep his predecessor,

Luis Téllez Luis Manuel Enrique Téllez Kuenzler (born October 13, 1958) is a Mexican economist. He is a former Secretary of Energy in the cabinet of Ernesto Zedillo and served as Secretary of Communications and Transportation in the cabinet of President Fel ...

in the position. When he became energy secretary,

PEMEX Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

faced problems with the inability to refine oil and gas taken from Mexico’s deposits, selling mostly crude. Today, Martens is a member of the faculty of the Tec de Monterrey and the

Thunderbird School of Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (or simply Thunderbird) is a global management school in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1946 as an independent, private institution, it was acquired by Arizona State University ( ...

References

List of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education faculty This list of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education faculty includes current and former instructors and administrators of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, a university and high school system located in va ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martens, Ernesto 1933 births Living people Harvard University alumni Mexican Secretaries of Energy People from Veracruz National Action Party (Mexico) politicians Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education alumni Mexican chemical engineers Academic staff of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education 21st-century Mexican politicians