Irma Eréndira Sandoval Ballesteros (born 1972) is a Mexican politician and scholar, expert in public administration and corruption control. In 2018 she was appointed by President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador as head of the
Ministry of Public Administration
The Ministry of Public Administration () (abbreviated as MoPa) is primarily responsible for management of public administration in Bangladesh.
Present minister is Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Minister of State is Farhad Hossain.
Present Senior secre ...
. Prior to her designation, in 2016, she was elected member of Mexico's City Constituent Assembly, where she was vice-coordinator of Morena's parliamentary fraction and secretary of the Committee for Good Governance, Fight against Corruption and Responsibilities of Public Servants.
She has also worked for more than a decade at
UNAM'sbr>
Institute for Social Research where she founded th
Corruption and Transparency Documentation and Analysis Laboratory She also holds the highest level of achievement in the
Mexican National System of Researchers. In 2009, she received the "Manuel Espinosa Yglesias” Prize, awarded by th
Espinosa Yglesias Study Centerand the Espinosa Rugarcía Foundation.
Internationally, she has also been a professor at the
Sciences Po Paris
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public research university''Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, accreditation ...
and Sciences Po Poitiers, the Institute des Hautes Études de L 'Amérique Latine (IHEAL), and the
American University in Washington D.C. She has been affiliated researcher of the
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics is a research center at Harvard University. The center seeks "to advance teaching and research on ethical issues in public life." It is named for Edmond J. Safra and has been supported by Lily Safra and ...
in
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and received the "Alfonso Reyes" Cathedra for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, awarded by
Sorbonne University in Paris.
She holds a PhD in Politics from the
University of California Santa Cruz; two master's degrees, the first in Latin American Studies from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
, and the second in Politics from the
University of California Santa Cruz, and she also has two bachelor's degrees, one in Economics from the Faculty of Economics at
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
and another in Sociology from
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.
On 27 April 2020, she tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, making her the highest ranking Mexican official to test positive for the coronavirus.
Corruption Scandals
Although Irma Eréndira Sandoval was the minister in charge of ensuring that public servants are graft-free, media
have reported that she accepted a plot of land from the city government under Marcelo Ebrard (currently, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico), and acquired several million dollar properties outright without taking out any mortgages and while on an academic’s salary. However, Sandoval Ballesteros denied these accusations, making it clear that she has never received any property as a gift or donation from any public official or politician, either during or before her current position.
Selected works
*
*
*She has published over two dozen book chapters and journal articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the International Law Review, the Administrative Law Review, Revista Mexicana de Sociología, Revista Mexicana de Ciencia Polítca, Revista Argumentos, Perfiles Latinoamericanos, Edward Elgar, and Fondo de Cultura Económica.
*She also published multiple opinion pieces in leading newspapers both in Mexico and the United States, including Los Angeles Times, Chicago Times, La Jornada, Proceso, and Reforma.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandoval Ballesteros, Irma
1972 births
Living people
National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty
Mexican women academics
Women Secretaries of State of Mexico
21st-century Mexican politicians
21st-century Mexican women politicians
Cabinet of Andrés Manuel López Obrador