Riordan Roett

Riordan Roett (born September 10, 1938) is an American political scientist specializing in Latin America. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in political science and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was assistant professor (1967–1973) and acting director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University and is currently the Sarita and Don Johnston Professor of Political Science and Director of the Western Hemisphere Program at the Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Roett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and a former national president of the Latin American Studies Association. In 2001 the President of Brazil named Roett to the Order of Rio Branco with the rank of Commander. Fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, he is a specialist on Brazilian, Mercosur, and Mexican issues and the author of several books on Latin America’s political economy.

Roett has been an advisor to Chase Manhattan Bank. From 1989 to 1997, he served as a Faculty Fellow of the World Economic Forum at the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Since 1999 Roett has served as a consultant to the National Intelligence Council of the Central Intelligence Agency. He is also independent director of a group of emerging market funds in New York City and sits on the advisory council of CILAE (Centro de Investigación Latinoamérica Europa).