Funglode Mourns the Death of Its Collaborator and Friend Howard Wiarda

The prominent historian and political scientist died last Saturday September 12.

Funglode (Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo) deeply mourns the death of Howard Wiarda, a great intellectual who honored us with his friendship and collaboration since the beginnings of our institution.

The friendship and intellectual admiration between Wiarda and our president, Leonel Fernández, allowed us to share his reflections
as a historian and as a political scientist on various occasions. The most recent of these was on June 24.

On that occasion, and as a way of saying goodbye, he gave a master course in our auditorium entitled "Think Tanks and Presidential Elections in the United States: New Trends."

Wiarda was proud of his in-depth knowledge on the Dominican Republic, which he demonstrated in his PhD thesis: “Dictatorship, development, and
disintegration: politics and social change in the Dominican Republic."

He first visited the country at a very young age and returned to it regularly, which allowed him to value the democratic and economic growth of the country and its development as a nation, which he discussed in another conference given at Funglode in February 2012, on the subject "The Dominican Republic: 50 Years After Trujillo."

With an extensive career as
an author and political analyst, Wiarda was currently a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CISI), one of the most important think tanks in the United States.

During his last visit to Funglode, Wiarda discussed the forward thinking of ex-President Fernández who has developed relationships with highly reputed think tanks in his country, and how he has managed to position the institution, which is now ranked among the world”s top think
tanks.

His intellectual legacy will endure as a testimony to the fondness that he harbored for the Dominican Republic and Funglode.