Oscar Arias

Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias in 2009
President of Costa Rica
In office 8 May 2006 – 8 May 2010
Vice President	First Laura Chinchilla Miranda Second Kevin Casas Zamora
Preceded by	Abel Pacheco
Succeeded by	Laura Chinchilla
In office 8 May 1986 – 8 May 1990
Vice President	First Jorge Manuel Dengo Obregón Second Victoria Garrón Orozco
Preceded by	Luis Alberto Monge
Succeeded by	Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier
Personal details
Born	(1940-09-13) 13 September 1940 (age 76) Heredia, Costa Rica
Political party	National Liberation Party
Alma mater	Boston University University of Costa Rica London School of Economics University of Essex
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Óscar Arias Sánchez (born 13 September 1940 in Heredia, Costa Rica) was President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end the Central American crisis.

He is also a recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. In 2003, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court's Trust Fund for Victims.

Arias was born within an upper-class family in the province of Heredia, descendants from Ferdinand III of Castile and Henry II of England. Arias concluded his secondary schooling at the Saint Francis College in the capital city of San José. He then went to the United States and enrolled in Boston University with the intention of studying medicine, but he soon returned to his home country and completed degrees in law and economics at the University of Costa Rica. In 1967, Arias traveled to the United Kingdom and enrolled in the London School of Economics. He received a doctoral degree in political science from the University of Essex in 1974. Arias has received over fifty honorary degrees, including doctorates from Harvard University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Oberlin College, Wake Forest University, Ithaca College and Washington University in St. Louis.