Sheinbaum, Claudia (1962-…), is a Mexican politician and an accomplished climate scientist. She was elected as president of Mexico in 2024. Sheinbaum was the first woman ever elected to hold that post. She was also the first person from a primarily Jewish family ever elected as president of Mexico, a largely Roman Catholic nation.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was born on June 24, 1962, in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. Her Jewish maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria and Lithuania, respectively. Both of Sheinbaum’s parents became scientists. Sheinbaum herself studied physics and energy engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she earned a doctorate in 1995. She spent several years doing research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California in the United States. After completing her degree, Sheinbaum joined UNAM’s engineering faculty.
During her time at UNAM and the Berkeley Lab, Sheinbaum participated in student activism in support of various causes. She eventually joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), a progressive political party.
In 2000, Sheinbaum became secretary of the environment for Mexico City, led by newly elected Head of Government Andrés Manuel López Obrador. As secretary of the environment, Sheinbaum worked on some notable transportation infrastructure projects. In 2006, after López Obrador lost Mexico’s presidential election amidst claims of fraud, Sheinbaum became part of his unofficial “legitimate government.” She also returned to UNAM to pursue academics. Sheinbaum contributed to two reports, released in 2007 and 2014, of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2007, the IPCC received the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to build up and spread knowledge about climate change and how to counteract it.
In 2014, Sheinbaum joined the National Regeneration Movement (also called Morena) , a new progressive political party established by López Obrador. From 2015 to 2017, she served as mayor of Tlalpan, a large borough of Mexico City. In 2018, Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico City’s head of government. López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s political mentor, was elected president of Mexico that same year. During Sheinbaum’s term as head of government, Mexico City experienced a significant reduction in violent crime.
Sheinbaum led Mexico City’s government until 2023, when she resigned to run for president of Mexico. López Obrador proved to be a popular president, but Mexico’s Constitution limited him to one term, and he supported Sheinbaum’s candidacy. Sheinbaum was elected as president on June 2, 2024. During her election campaign, she pledged to continue López Obrador’s efforts to aid poorer Mexicans and to address crime at its roots. She was expected to take office in October.
See also Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; López Obrador, Andrés Manuel.
