Deirdre Mendez is director of the Center for Global Business at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and a lecturer in the school’s Department of Business, Government & Society. Mendez teaches international business and management to executives, MBA students, and undergraduates in the U.S. and abroad.

She joined the center after two decades as an intercultural business consultant and keynote speaker. Mendez has helped U.S. companies and their international partners identify and manage the confusion and conflict that can rise from cultural difference to minimize risk and enhance the performance of international projects. Her book, The Culture Solution, is a straightforward guide that helps international executives apply the principles of cultural analysis to the cultural challenges their companies face.

Mendez earned a Ph.D. in sociolinguistics at UT Austin and a bachelor’s degree in linguistics at Tulane University.