Ferdinand Mercado Ramos (born June 18, 1957) is a former Secretary of the

Puerto Rico Department of State The Department of State of Puerto Rico was created in July 1952 and is responsible of promoting the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico, other jurisdictions of the United States and foreign countries. History The ...

under Governor

Sila Calderón Sila may refer to : Places and jurisdictions ; Asia * Silla, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea * Sila, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ; Europe * La Sila, a mountainous area of Calabria, Italy ** Sila National Park * Siła, Warmian-Ma ...

from 2001 until 2004. His government service ended after Gov. Calderón appointed him as Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme cou ...

and his nomination was later withdrawn when it became apparent that he would not be confirmed by the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

. Bachelor of Science in Psychology,

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

, 1978. Juris Doctor,

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpor ...

, 1981. Postgraduate,

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. Mercado is one of the few Puerto Ricans who have ample, high level experience in the three branches of state government. He served as a legislative assistant, executive director of the House Government Affairs Committee and Secretary of the House of Representatives. In the judicial branch, he served as a district court judge and as president of the Puerto Rico Judicature Association. An accomplished poet whose works have been published in several books, Mercado currently practices law and was a prominent political analyst for the Notiuno radio network in Puerto Rico. He is married and has two children.

Works

* * *

References

1957 births Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Secretaries of State of Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians People from Lares, Puerto Rico Living people University of Puerto Rico alumni {{PuertoRico-bio-stub