Jordana Mendelson, Director

Jordana Mendelson is the new Director of NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center as of September 2020. She is also Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and affiliate faculty in the Department of Art History and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. Prior to coming to NYU, Professor Mendelson taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and served as a visiting professor at the Universidad de Navarra, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and in the independent study program of the Museu d’Arr Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).

Laura Turégano, Associate Director

Ms. Turégano has been the KJCC Associate Director since 2004. In Fall 2007, Ms. Turégano took on the role of Acting Director of the Center between the end of the previous Director’s term of office and the start of that of the existing Director. In Fall 2011, in Academic Year 2018 and 2020, Ms. Turégano was appointed again Acting Director. Ms. Turégano has more than twenty five years of experience in philanthropy and public affairs, with expertise in the arts, culture and international relations.

Luis Alfonso Pérez, Administrative Assistant

Luis Alfonso Pérez has worked several years in the multimedia industry both as an administrator and freelance artist. His work has won various awards in several art shows on the east coast. A Bronx native of Colombian descent he is fluent in English and Spanish. Luis received a BA in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since January 2006 Luis has been Administrative Assistant at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center.

Pierina Pighi Bel, Graduate Assistant

Pierina Pighi Bel is from Perú. She studied Communication and has worked as a journalist since 2012 for outlets like El Comercio, Lima, and the BBC Spanish Service in its Miami office. She is currently studying for an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish at New York University (NYU), and she is preparing a book of short stories and a collection of poems.