Luis E. Murillo

Picture: The author in Tunisia. The author's mother was for many years the head librarian of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Canal Zone, and he grew up surrounded by books and taught himself English reading American zoology journals and aviation magazines. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics with first place honors and a Master’s degree in the same discipline, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds a PhD degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. He has worked in the aerospace industry of Italy and California, and as a senior engineer at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Co., in Seattle, Washington. He is an FAA licensed multi engine airplane instrument pilot besides being an avid reader of history. His second PhD, from the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, took longer than planned due to his political activities against Panama’s regime after dictator Noriega killed a cousin of his in 1985. As an engineer, professor, and scholar he has been eight times around the world visiting countries in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, having once been detained in Cairo, accused of espionage. His favorite city is Istanbul. Luis Murillo has taught international business, finance, strategy, operations, global management and MBA capstone courses, at the University of California Berkeley, California State University, and University of San Francisco. A popular lecturer, at University of San Francisco he was elected chair of the Distinguished Teaching Award Committee two consecutive years and placed in front of large classes at University of California; at California State University his classes were televised to other campuses. The University of California Los Angeles invited him to lecture on his book The Noriega Mess and Panamanian history. He has been an expert witness on Panama, consulted and researched for companies, law firms, human rights organizations, and has participated in many international conferences, published peer-reviewed papers in aerospace engineering, operational management, international politics and business areas, besides authoring two doctoral dissertations. At USF, the university Peer Review Committees as well as the School of Business best authors recommended him for promotion. He has been a member of professional organizations, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and editorial boards of journals and conferences. His book on Panama and hundreds of opinion pieces on history, business, and economics, published in Panamanian newspapers, as well as his appearances on radio and television (including Univision and Telemundo in the United States) have earned him acclaim in Panama and congratulations from President Mireya Moscoso, the first woman president of Panama, as well as angry denials from President Ernesto Perez Balladares, a former dictatorship collaborator. Luis Murillo has received letters from celebrities like British novelist John Le Carre (The Tailor of Panama) and former U. S. President George Bush Sr. (the man who ordered the invasion of Panama). Panama’s Association of Journalists and Panama’s Instituto de Estudios Politicos e Internacionales both honored him. The Noriega Mess, his 1000-page history of Panama, a best-seller in that country, was promptly translated into Spanish and serialized by the popular Panamanian daily El Siglo. As expected, his writings have elicited bitter opposition from General Noriega partisans.