Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida is a senior researcher at the Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and a Professor at the University of São Paulo of International Relations and of Political Science. She was the director of the International Relations Institute at the University of São Paulo from 2008 to 2011. She holds a BA in Social Sciences (1969) and a Ph.D. in Political Science (1979) from the University of São Paulo. Further, she completed her post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley (1964).

Prof. Almeida is a renowned Brazilian political scientist and sociologist, who participated in the Executive Committee of the Latin American Studies Association from 2001 to 2004 and was the president of the Brazilian Political Science Association from 2004 to 2008. In 2009, she was elected the vice-president of the Latin American Studies Association until 2010, after which she became the president of the association. She has been Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London (1992); Tinker Visiting Professor, Stanford University (1996); Visiting Professor, Latin America Program, Ortega y Gasset Institute (1999, 2000 and 2002); Visiting Professor, Political Science Department, Université de Montréal (2006) and visiting scholar at the Brazil Institute, King’s College London, and University of London. She received the Brazilian National Order of Scientific Merit in 2006.

In 2022, she joined the Council for Global Cooperation and serves as an Advisory Chair of its Latin America Program and the vertex of International History and Foreign Policy.