Guest Speakers

The MONTHLY DINNERS are a tradition and trademark of the Madrid Council. According to most members and past Presidents of the Navy League, the backbone of the organization of these events is none other than Mr. George Mahl who held the position of President and has incredible connections as a long time resident and professional in Madrid. Many a great author of literature has written that in order to survive in any type of society “noteworthy connections” are indispensable! Here is a sample of some of those “noteworthy Navy League connections”. All are recipients of The Navy League sword for a “job well done.” Bravo Zulu! Professor Arpad Von Lazar, Instituto de Empresas Santiago Urio, President EDS España y Portugal Jim Wilson, Senior Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy Madrid Spain Excmo. Sr. General Don Juan Antonio Martinez-Esparza y Valiente, Nato Assistant Secretary Gneral, NATO HQ Brussels Isabel Aguilera, Directora General Google España y Portugal Ambassador Victor Hamel, Israel Embassy  in Spain Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre Jr, Embassy Spain and Andorra Antonio Oyarzábal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of General Dynamics Admiral D. Francisco Torrente Sánchez, Secretary General of Defense Policy José Bono, Minister of Defense Spain Admiral General Zaragoza Soto, Naval Chief Staff

Professor Von Lazar

Dr. Arpad von Lazar is Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Medford Massachusetts. While at Fletcher he was a founding member of the academic programs on international development, international energy studies and the international environmental program. During his academic career Professor von Lazar has worked as senior advisor to major US and foreign oil companies, financial institutions, foundations, US government and foreign governments. Since his retirement from Fletcher in 1998, he has served as investment advisor to a number of European and US banks and investment Companies. He is member of the International Advisory Board of Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, on of Europe’s foremost business schools. Professor von Lazar is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Club of Rome, the Committee on Hungary-2000 and serves on a number of corporate boards and advisory committees.

Santiago Urio

Santiago Urío Rodríguez is President of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Spain and Portugal since January 2006. He is responsible for all EDS business in Spain and Portugal.  Santiago Urio, 46, started his career in IBM. He joined the company in Spain in 1984, in the Information Systems division. In 1989, he moved to London as a software planner at the IBM (UK) Installation Support Centre. Two years later, he came back to Spain as Manager, New Solutions department, Application Development. In 1995, after a two-year interim period during which he worked as an independent consultant in the UK, advising companies like Schlumberger in the UK, Proton in Russia and IBM Spain, he joined IBM Global Services as Manager of Network Services in Spain, then Manager of Europe South Region.  In 1999 he moved to AT&T as Regional Manager,  Europe Region South. He was responsible for AT&T Business in Italy, Spain, Israel, Portugal,  Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. In 2002 he was appointed Sales Director,  Region Northern, AT&T Business EMEA.  Based in London, UK, he was responsible for AT&T Sales in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ireland, South Africa and Pakistan.In 2003 he moved to BT to take responsibility of the Solutions division in Spain and Portugal as well as IT services and managed Spain based global accounts.   Santiago Urío graduated in industrial engineering from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICAI) in Madrid. He also holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Jim Wilson

Jim Wilson entered the U.S. Foreign Service with the State Department in 1976.  His initial assignments were as a Reporting Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in 1976 and as Economic/Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi (1977-1979).  He transferred to the Commerce Department’s Commercial Service in 1980 during an assignment as Commercial Attaché in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1979-82). In 1982-83 Jim worked at the Commerce Department Export Assistance Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   Subsequent overseas positions with Commerce included tours at American Embassies as Senior Commercial Officer in Nairobi, Kenya (1984-88), as Commercial Attaché in Madrid, Spain (1988-93) and service as the Senior Commercial Officer in Ankara, Turkey (1994-97) and in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2000-2004).    In Washington, D.C., Mr. Wilson worked on a detail as Director, South American Affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (1983-84).  He returned to Washington in July 1997 to work for a year as the Regional Director for Europe in Commerce’s Office of International Operations.  From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Wilson served as Director of the Office of Energy, Infrastructure and Industrial Machinery at the Commerce Department headquarters.    Jim assumed his current position as the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain in August 2004.   He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.  Mr. Wilson graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in International Relations and Economics.  He was born and raised in suburban Philadelphia.  Jim and his wife Vicky have two grown children, Christina and Andrew.  He is an avid, though infrequent, golfer.

Excmo. Sr. General Don Juan Antonio Martinez-Esparza y Valiente NATO Assistant Secretary General for Executive Management until last june in NATO HQ, Brussels. Tom Denegre, President Madrid Council US Navy League, with Excmo. Sr. General Don Juan Antonio Martinez-Esparza y Valiente

Isabel Aguilera

Directora General GOOGLE España y Portugal. Isabel Aguilera, madre de dos hijos. Arquitecto y Urbanista por la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Sevilla, MBA por el Instituto de Empresa de Madrid y PDG del IESE (Madrid). Ha ejercido su carrera profesional en el sector de las telecomunicaciones, desempeñando distintos cargos de responsabilidad en las áreas de ventas y marketing de empresas líderes en la fabricación y distribución de productos de Informática Personal como Compaq y Hewlett-Packard y en un breve, pero intenso, paso como Directora de Marketing Comercial en Airtel Móvil (hoy llamada Vodafone) en el periodo de su lanzamiento y como Consejera Delegada y Directora General de Dell Computer para España, Italia y Portugal en el periodo de 1998 a 2002. Desde Junio de 2002 y durante tres años fue la Directora General de Operaciones (C.O.O.) a nivel mundial de NH Hoteles. Y a partir de Enero de 2006, Directora General de Google Inc para España y Portugal.   Es además Consejera Independiente de Indra Sistemas, multinacional líder en innovación y tecnología del selectivo IBEX-35 y de Laureate Inc, multinacional americana propietaria de más de 40 campus de Universidades privadas en 15 países.

Ambassador Victor Harel

The ambassador is an accomplished professional with vast experience in Europe-Israel relations. Born in Urugay, he emigrated  to Israel at the age of 18, received his law degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has served as DCM at the Israeli Embassy in Mexico, at the Legal Dept. of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, at the Israeli Embassy in Washington in various capacities, as Ambassador to Belgium and Luxemburg, and as Director General of the West European desk at the Foreign Ministry, prior to arrival in Madrid in July 2003. He is fluent in five languages and will address us in Spanish.

Hon. Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre Jr, Spain and Andorra Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., was named by President George W. Bush to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and the Principality of Andorra. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 16, 2005 and sworn in on June 24, 2005 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He presented his credentials to His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain on June 29, 2005. Before his appointment as Ambassador, Mr. Aguirre served, beginning February 7, 2003, as the first Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an Under Secretary rank position in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At USCIS, Director Aguirre led a team of 15,000 employees serving over 6 million annual applicants seeking immigration benefits. Under Director Aguirre's leadership, USCIS made significant and measurable progress towards eliminating the immigration benefit application backlog, improving customer service, and enhancing national security. Director Aguirre joined the Department of U.S. Homeland Security from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), where he served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. From December 2001 to December 2002, he was Acting Chairman of this Federal Agency. Prior to joining President Bush’s administration, Mr. Aguirre was President of International Private Banking for Bank of America. Over the course of his 24-year career with Bank of America, his team was consistently acknowledged for excellence in customer service and high employee satisfaction. While residing in Texas, Mr. Aguirre was appointed by then Governor George W. Bush to the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System for a six-year term, serving from 1996 - 1998 as chairman. Former President George H. Bush appointed him to the National Commission for Employment Policy. In 1990, The Supreme Court of Texas appointed him to the State Bar as a non-attorney Director. Deeply committed to community service, Mr. Aguirre has served on numerous professional and civic boards, including the Texas Children's Hospital, Texas Bar Foundation, Operación Pedro Pan Foundation, Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, and the Houston chapters of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Mr. Aguirre was bestowed the Order of José Matías Delgado – Grade of Grand Officer – by the Republic of El Salvador, and the order of Christopher Columbus – Grade of Grand Officer – by the Dominican Republic. The Daughters of the American Revolution awarded him their 2004 Americanism Medal. Mr. Aguirre holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University (LSU). He is a graduate of the American Bankers Association's National Commercial Lending Graduate School. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Connecticut, the University of Houston and the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Born in 1946, Mr. Aguirre and his wife, Maria Teresa, each emigrated from Cuba as unaccompanied minors at the age of 15. They maintain their permanent home in Houston, where they have lived for three decades. The Aguirres have two grown children, Eddy and Tessie.