Cynthia A. Telles

Cynthia Ann Telles is an American academic and psychologist who currently serves as the US Ambassador to Costa Rica. She is a clinical professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and serves on the executive committee of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is the founding director of the Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence.

Cynthia Telles
Telles in 2022
United States Ambassador to Costa Rica
Assumed office
March 11, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded bySharon Day
Personal details
Born
Cynthia Ann Telles
Spouse(s)Robert Hertzberg (divorced)
Joseph Waz
RelationsRaymond Telles (father)
Monica C. Lozano (cousin)
EducationSmith College (BA)
Boston University (PhD)

Early life and education
Costa Rica Ambassador Raymond Telles reads to his daughter, Cynthia, in December 1964.

Her father is Raymond Telles, the first Mexican American mayor of a major American city, El Paso, Texas.[1] She was raised in El Paso and moved to Costa Rica in 1961, when her father served as the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica under the John F. Kennedy administration.[2] When she was 10, she nearly died after contracting viral encephalitis from a mosquito bite. By 12, she began volunteering at a hospital.[1] After living in Costa Rica for six years, the family moved to Washington, D.C.[2]

Telles received a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and a Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology from Boston University.[3] She moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s to work on her doctoral dissertation.[1]

Career
Telles in 1986

Telles has been the director of the UCLA Spanish-Speaking Psychosocial Clinic and is the founding director of the UCLA Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence.[3]

Given her prominence within the Latino political circle in Los Angeles, commentators expected her to eventually enter a career in politics. However, in 1992, Telles insisted that she had no long term political agenda and declined to run for U.S. Representative Edward R. Roybal's seat after he announced his retirement.[1]

Telles was a prominent donor to the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.[4]

Ambassador to Costa Rica

On June 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Telles to be the next US Ambassador to Costa Rica.[3] On June 23, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[5] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee On September 22, 2021.[6] On October 19, 2021, her nomination was reported favorably out of committee.[7] On December 18, 2021, her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate via voice vote.[8] She presented her credentials to the Vice Minister for Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation, Adriana Bolaños Argueta, on March 10, 2022,[9] and to the President of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada on March 11, 2022.[10]

Boards

In Los Angeles, she has served on the Board of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and was the Chair of the Los Angeles/U.S. Section of the Mexico-Los Angeles Commission.[3] She has served on numerous City of Los Angeles Commissions,[3] including on the Board of Airport Commissioners since 2013[11] and the ethics commission.[1]

She was a founding board member of Americas United Bank and was a board member of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. She has served as chairperson on the California Community Foundation and The California Endowment.[3][12]

On the national level, Telles was appointed by President Barack Obama to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars in 2010 and has served on the National Advisory Council of SAMHSA during the Clinton administration.[11]

Telles served on the board of directors of Kaiser Permanente from 2009 until 2021.

Telles was on the board of directors of General Motors from 2010 to June 2014.[13]

Personal life

Telles is fluent in Spanish.[3] She is related to Monica C. Lozano.[14]

Telles was married to California State Senator Robert Hertzberg. They divorced in 2005.[15] Telles has been married to Joseph Waz, a telecommunications executive,[16][17] since 2015.

Select awards and recognition
  • First Annual Achievement Award for Mental Health Public Service[11]
  • American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program [11]
  • Leadership Award — National Hispanic Medical Association/National Hispanic Health Foundation[11]
  • Benjamin Joy Award — honoring Ambassador Telles and Mission San Jose team for advancing US commercial diplomacy.

References
  1. Mehren, Elizabeth (1992-04-13). "Coming Into Her Own : Cynthia Ann Telles inherited a zeal for public service. Now she's emerging as a Latino voice in L.A." Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  2. Carreon, Cristina. "President Biden nominates El Paso native Cynthia Ann Telles as ambassador to Costa Rica". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  3. "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Nine More Individuals to Serve as Ambassadors". The White House. 2021-06-15. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  4. Madhani, Aamer (June 15, 2021). "Biden nominates 9 to high-profile ambassador postings". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  5. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 23, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. "PN738 - Nomination of Cynthia Ann Telles for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  7. "SFRC APPROVES 33 CRITICAL FOREIGN POLICY NOMINATIONS" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  8. "PN738 - Nomination of Cynthia Ann Telles for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  9. Cancillería Costa Rica [@CRcancilleria] (March 10, 2022). "La nueva embajadora de los Estados Unidos de América, Cynthia Ann Telles, presentó las copias de estilo de Cartas Credenciales a la Viceministra para Asuntos Bilaterales y Cooperación Internacional, Embajadora Adriana Bolaños Argueta" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-10 – via Twitter.
  10. @usembassysjo (March 11, 2022). "Hoy, la embajadora Cynthia Telles presentó sus cartas credenciales ante el presidente @CarlosAlvQ y destacó la fuerte amistad entre EE. UU. y Costa Rica" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-12 – via Twitter.
  11. Chakrabarti, Anushka; Tran, Christine (June 15, 2021). "UCLA professor nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  12. Baliva, Zach (2014-03-17). "Bitten by the Advocacy Bug". Hispanic Executive. Archived from the original on 2019-10-26. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  13. Vlasic, Bill (2014-09-08). "G.M.'s Board Is Seen as Slow in Reacting to Safety Crisis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  14. Bustillo, Miguel (1999-08-29). "Political Kingmaker Wants the Crown : Legislature: Bob Hertzberg, who boosted the careers of many key officeholders, now seeks Assembly speakership". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  15. Modesti, Kevin (January 15, 2019). "Bob Hertzberg embraces an active final term in California Legislature". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  16. Johnson, Ted (2016-10-07). "Clinton vs. Trump in Hollywood: Who's Giving". Variety. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  17. "Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Comes to LA, Goes to King Taco". NBC Los Angeles. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
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