Jose W. Fernandez is partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and co-chair at Gibson Dunn's Latin America Practice Group. Previous to this, he was nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, as assistant secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs from 2009 to 2013.  During his tenure, Fernandez led the Bureau that is responsible for overseeing work on international trade and investment policy; international finance, development and debt policy; economic sanctions and combating terrorist financing; international energy security policy; international telecommunications and transportation policies; and support for U.S. businesses and the private sector overseas. He spearheaded the State Department's "Economic Statecraft" initiative to promote foreign investment into the United States and support U.S. companies overseas, co-led the interagency team that prepared the Model Bilateral Investment Treaty used by the United States today, worked with American businesses to promote responsible business conduct in Myanmar, Bangladesh and the diamond industry through the Kimberly Process, and led the U.S. government's economic dialogues with Turkey, the UAE, Brazil and several other nations.  Fernandez was the State Department's principal representative in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and was also a key figure in devising and implementing U.S. sanctions policy around the world. He was named one of the "World's Leading Lawyers" by Chambers Global for his M&A and corporate work, an "Expert" in International Financial Law Review's "Guide to the World's Leading Project Finance Lawyers," and one of the "World's Leading Privatization Lawyers" by Euromoney Publications.  He was recognized as a leading Corporate Finance attorney in the Latin America market in Chambers Global and a leading Latin America attorney in Chambers U.S.. Fernandez was featured by Hispanic Business Magazine in its "100 Influentials List" for several years. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and on the Board of Directors of Accion International and the Council of the Americas.  Fernandez has been chair both of the American Bar Association's Inter-American Law Committee and the Committee on Inter-American Affairs of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and Co-Chair of the Cross Border M&A and Joint Venture Committee of the New York State Bar Association.  He also headed the Latin American and Caribbean division of the ABA's Rule of Law Initiative and has served on the boards of NPR-station WBGO-FM, Ballet Hispanico of New York and the Middle East Institute.  Fernandez was a founder of TeatroStageFest, a 2-week Latino theatre festival in New York City, and was appointed a Commissioner of New York's Latin Media and Entertainment Commission.  He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Directors of Iberdrola S.A.. Fernandez is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and proficient in French.   He has a Bachelor's degree in history, magna cum laude with high honors from Dartmouth College and also received an honorary degree from the college.  Fernandez has a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law, where he received the Charles Evans Hughes Prize and a Parker School Certificate of International Law with Honors.