João Carlos ESPADA

JOÃO CARLOS ESPADA is the director and founder (1996) of the Institute for Political Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal, where he is University professor of Political Studies. He was previously a tenured Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences of the (state) University of Lisbon. From January 2011 until July 2014, he held the European Parliament / Bronislaw Geremek European Civilisation Chair at the College of Europe, campus of Natolin (Warsaw). He earned his D.Phil from the University of Oxford, under the supervision of [Lord] Ralf Dahrendorf, and he taught at Brown, Stanford and Georgetown Universities in the US. He is editor of the quarterly journal Nova Cidadania and president of the Portuguese section of the International Churchill Society/Churchill Centre. He has co-founded and is a member of the Board of Directors the European Partnership for Democracy, as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Democracy, having been a founding member of World Movement for Democravy and member of the steering committee of the Council for a Community of Democracies. He has authored nine books and edited another ten in political theory, all in Portuguese and several in English. He has contributed regular opinion columns to the press since 1985, presently having a weekly column at the daily newspaper Público. He was political adviser to the President of the Portuguese Republic, Prof. Aníbal Cavaco Silva, during his first presidential term (2006-2011), having held a similar position during the first presidential term of Mr. Mário Soares (1986-91). He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, of the Naval Academy and of the International Academy of Portuguese Culture. In January 2012, he was awarded the Bene Merito Distinction by the Republic of Poland, this being "the highest civil recognition given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to people whose contribution to Poland is exceptional". In June 2010, he was awarded The Medal of Gratitude by the European Solidarity Centre, based at Gdansk, in “appreciation of [his] involvement in organising assistance for Solidarity and support for Poles facing an authoritarian government”. In 1996, he was awarded the title of “Grande Oficial da Ordem do Mérito” by the President of the Republic of Portugal, Mr. Mário Soares.

Curriculum Vitae