Dr. Aguirre is an Ordinary Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the Catholic University of America. She is the founder of the Integral Economic Development Programs at this Department. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and joined Catholic University in 1994. Professor Aguirre's professional background also includes degrees in accounting and banking finance, earned in Argentina. Dr. Aguirre also held appointments at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University’s Economics Department.
Dr. Aguirre's specialization is in international finance and integral economic development. She has researched and published in the areas of exchange rates and economic integration, as well as on theories of population, human and social capital and family as it relates to integral economic development. Her work has been published, among others, in International Advances in Economic Research, Journal of Economic Studies, International Review of Economic and Finance, Journal of Economic and Finance, Atlantic Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Integration, International Journal of Social Economics, Review of International Economics, and Journal of Public Law. She is also the author of Determinants of Economic Growth, Population, and Family Wealth: The Case of Guatemala and of several book chapters. Recognizing her contributions to the field, she has received a Citation of Excellence for her paper published in Journal of Economic Studies, 25:6, 1998, ANBAR Electronic Intelligence, 1999, awarded the Magister en Gestión Educativa by the Consejo Iberoamericano in 2004, and has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, March 1996 and 2006. She has also been the recipient of several grants to support her research and is a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Aguirre’s work has been captured by media around the world. This includes, among others, NewsWeekly, La Nación, El Observador, National Review, CNN News, CNN Español, EWTN. El Universal, The Voice Today, BBC News, PBS, CNN, La República, La Prensa Gráfica, Prensa Libre, Siglo 21, El Periódico, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Radio Samora, Guatevision, and the Meridian Magazine.
Dr. Aguirre has participated and lectured in several conferences at both the national and international level. Since ICPD '94, she has actively participated in UN Conferences. Professor Aguirre is a member of several prestigious organizations, in which she serves and has served as an officer in different capacities. Among them is the Commission on the Status of Women in the Professions, a working group of the American Economic Association. Dr. Aguirre is also actively involved with leadership programs for young women worldwide and is the founder and President of the Foundation for Women's Advancement (Foundation WA). Foundation WA is a non-for-profit organization that seeks to help underprivileged girls and women around the world live with dignity and build brighter futures for themselves, their families, and their communities by partnering with local institutions to address regional needs and engage communal support.
She has testified in front of Congresses on issues related to population, family and health both nationally and internationally. Among these are included the Congress of the United States, Uganda, Honduras, Guatemala, as well as the United Nations, and the Central American and Canadian Parliaments. She also has advised other countries' Permanent Missions to the UN and UN Delegates on economic aspects of UN Documents. In addition, she has advised several governments on women's education, family policy, and health. She served as a presidential appointee to the US Advisory Commission on Foreign Diplomacy, 2003-2008.
Dr. Aguirre was a member of the Advisory Board to the Millennium Development Goals Fund (MDGF) evaluation (2012-2013) and was appointed to the UN Experts Group that assisted with the transition from MDGF to the Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDGF) (2015-2017). Dr. Aguirre was tasked to evaluate SDGF proposals to ensure inclusive economic growth.