Minister of Foreign Affairs
Government of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

Bruno Stagno came to the Woodrow Wilson School after seven years of working as a Foreign Service Officer for the Costa Rican government. He studied political science at both Georgetown University and the Sorbonne before his first government appointment in 1994.

He was recalled to Costa Rica from foreign service duties in 1998, and appointed the adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; soon afterward, he was promoted to the position of chief of staff. But he began to miss academia and was eager to increase his understanding of the nuances of public policy. Upon hearing of the School and researching its various programs, he became convinced that the Master in Public Policy program was just the degree to take him to the higher levels of policymaking. He was right--after completion of his M.P.P. degree at the Woodrow Wilson School in 2001, Stagno was named Permanent Ambassador of Costa Rica to the United Nations in August 2002. In September 2004, he was unanimously elected President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, to serve from 2005–07. In the summer of 2006, Costa Rican president Oscar Arias appointed him to his current position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"WWS provided the perfect setting and offered all of the academic resources that I craved," says Ambassador Stagno. "The generosity of the School certainly exceeded my expectations. WWS truly invests in its students, both financially and academically, offering in addition many support services that cater to all the possible needs a student may have."