Luis Carlos Ugalde

Luis Carlos Ugalde is a Mexican political analyst, public affairs consultant, and scholar of democracy whose career spans public service, academia, and applied political analysis. He is the founder and Director General of Integralia Consultores, a Mexico City–based firm specializing in political risk and strategic advisory services. From 2003 to 2007, he served as president of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, the country’s national electoral authority. Earlier, he was chief of staff to Mexico’s ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2000 and chief of staff to the secretary of Energy in the mid-1990s.

He was a Fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs during the academic year 2025–2026 and served as the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies in 2008. He has taught and held fellowships at leading universities and research centers in both the United States and Mexico, including Harvard, Georgetown, American University, the National Endowment for Democracy, ITAM, CIDE, and Tec de Monterrey. His work has focused on democracy, elections, populism, and U.S.–Mexico relations.

Ugalde holds a degree in economics from ITAM, as well as a master’s degree in public administration and a PhD in political science from Columbia University.