Jorge Glas was born 13 September 1969 in Guayaquil. He has known and been friends with president Correa since their time as boy scouts.
Education
He holds a degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the ESPOL which he obtained on 22 September 2008. National Assembly member for the Patriotic Society Party, Galo Lara, reported Glas on 3 January 2013 to the police for plagiarism in his thesis and for holding public office while not being qualified to do so. Lara said that Glas during his term as General Manager of the Solidarity Fund needed an academic title of the third degree, which Glas did not have. Glas's thesis was reviewed by Genove Gneco, a professor from the Dominican Republic who found suspected plagiarism in four theses by top governmental officials in his own country, including then-President Danilo Medina. Gneco found 35% of Glas's thesis to be suspected plagiarism. An investigation by a commission set up by ESPOL acquitted Glas of plagiarism. Glas however recognized that he should have cited his sources better. Since 2007 Glas has held several political appointments in the government of Rafael Correa. He was general manager of the now-closed Solidarity Fund between 2007 and 2009. The company was an amalgamation of several public companies of telecommunications and electricity generation and distribution. He was also president of the National Telecommunications Council. Afterwards Glas was Minister of Telecommunications and later became Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors. He directed the merger of Andinatel S.A. and Pacifitel S.A. into the National Corporation of Telecommunications, a corporation of which he became the first chairperson. As Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors he was responsible for building several hydroelectric stations.
Vice Presidency
Glas commenced his term as Vice President on 24 May 2013. On 4 August 2017, Glas was suspended from his duties as Vice President. On December 15 Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for taking $13.5 million from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht. On 2 January 2018, under Ecuador's Constitution's Article 146, as Glas was unable to exercise his office for 90 days, he was stripped of his office. On 6 January 2018, María Alejandra Vicuña was formally sworn in as Vice President of Ecuador after the National Assembly voted to approve her for the position.
