Ambassador Richard Bernal was educated at the University of the West Indies, the University of Pennsylvania, the New School for Social Research, and the School for Advanced Studies of Johns Hopkins University. He holds the degrees of B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D. (economics), and M.I.P.P. (international public policy). A professional economist with over 30 years of experience, he presently serves as director-general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), which has responsibility for trade negotiations for the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and provides technical support to Cuba and the Dominican Republic. He is the principal adviser to ministers of trade and prime ministers of the CARICOM countries in various negotiating fora. Dr. Bernal was Jamaica's ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from May 1991 to August 2001. At the OAS, he chaired the Permanent Council, the highest body of the organization, as well as committees on hemispheric trade, the Summit of the Americas, and the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. Prior to his diplomatic posting, Dr. Bernal was CEO of a commercial bank with merchant bank and trust company subsidiaries and served in various capacities in the Central Bank, the Planning Institute/Agency, and the Ministry of Finance. He taught international and development economics at the University of the West Indies and maintains an active involvement in academic circles. Dr. Bernal has published over 100 articles in scholarly journals, and he has authored articles in financial periodicals and newspapers, including opinion editorials in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. As a spokesperson on international economic issues and policy in developing countries, he has been interviewed by the BBC, the Voice of America, and CNN. Dr. Bernal has given testimony to several committees of the U.S. Congress on issues of concern to the Caribbean. Selected by the University of the West Indies as one of its 50 most distinguished graduates, Dr. Bernal is the recipient of several honors, including the Order of Jamaica.