Diego Sada Santos ’87

Cornell College Alumni Board member Diego Sada Santos ’87, of Monterrey, Mexico, died on Nov. 14, 2020.

He was an attorney, Spanish-English translator, and vice president and general counsel for his family’s art dealership. He had been associated with several law firms, specializing in international law, intellectual property, and foreign investment. For over 10 years he taught law at the university level, including with Cornell President Jonathan Brand. Each time Brand taught Nature, Functions, and Limits of the Law, Sada Santos was invited as an expert for the session on civil and common law. 

Sada Santos was elected to Cornell’s Alumni Board of Directors in 2018 and actively supported admission efforts to recruit students from Mexico and the southern U.S. Before his death he was enrolled as a member of the first student cohort in Cornell’s low-residency M.F.A. in creative writing program.

He was also the very first student to enroll at Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey, where he ultimately received a law degree and a master’s degree in legal pedagogy. He held a master’s degree in comparative jurisprudence from New York University. At Cornell he majored in English and minored in psychology.

Sada Santos was a member of the board of governors of the Monterrey International Film Festival. He was a devoted and knowledgeable admirer of the Beatles.

Sada Santos is survived by his two children.