Jose Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Barroso is a Portuguese politician, university teacher and expert on the politics of European integration. He was elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal before serving two terms as the President of the European Commission. He is currently a non-executive Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and Senior Adviser at Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs).

First elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1985, Barroso served as State Secretary for Home Affairs, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Minister for Foreign Affairs in successive governments. In 1999, he was elected President of the Social Democratic Party, becoming the leader of the opposition before his 2002 election as Prime Minister of Portugal. In 2004, he was nominated as president of the European Commission. In this role, Barroso played an influential role in the Treaty of Lisbon, oversaw the EU’s response to the financial crisis and facilitated the incorporation of new members into the European Union, with membership going from 15 to 28 countries during his tenure. In 2012, Barroso accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the EU alongside the President of the European Council.

Barroso graduated in Law from the University of Lisbon and completed a master’s degree in Political Science and a diploma in European Studies at the University of Geneva. His academic positions include visiting professor at Georgetown University, and visiting professor of International Economic Policy and a policy fellow at Princeton University. He is also a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Portugal and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Barroso has been awarded numerous honorary degrees and has received more than 60 decorations, prizes and honors, including Portugal’s Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Cristo and Grande Colar da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique. He is the author of numerous publications on political science, international relations and the European Union.