Raymond Laureano-Ortiz is an engineer, management consultant, and Doctor in History. His interests in historical research revolve around Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, economic development, international relations, scientific and technological innovation, the business ecosystem of innovation, and issues of diversity and inclusiveness. His research work has been presented in multiple forums in Puerto Rico, the US, the Caribbean, and Europe. His first publications as a historian have emerged since 2018 in academic journals and books published in Puerto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, France, and Germany. His PhD dissertation on the history of Puerto Rico’s paradiplomacy or international relations in the 80s and 90s received an Honorable Mention for the Caribbean Studies Association’s Best Dissertation Award in 2018.
He is serving as Assistant Professor at the School of Liberal Arts & General Education of the Ana G. Méndez University in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. He is also affiliated as a researcher to the Latin America Center of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (University of Denver), the Institute of Caribbean Studies (University of Puerto Rico), and the Jesús T. Piñero Library & Social Research Center (Puerto Rico’s Ana G. Méndez University), where he is overseeing the creation of a historical archive specialized on Puerto Rico’s international relations and economic-development initiatives. He is also involved in Caribbean-centered research projects endorsed and sponsored by CLACSO (Latin American Council of Social Sciences) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Initiative.
He is currently part of the Executive Committee of four different organizations: the CSA (Caribbean Studies Association), the ACH (Association of Caribbean Historians), the SCS-UK (UK-based Society for Caribbean Studies), and LASA-PR (the Puerto Rico Section of the Latin American Studies Association), where he is the Secretary.