President of European Commission
José Manuel Barroso was born in Lisbon on 23 March 1956. After
graduating in law from the University of Lisbon, he moved to Geneva where he completed a Diploma in
European Studies at the European University Institute, University of Geneva, and a Master's degree
in Political Science from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Social
Sciences, University of Geneva, earning an honours in both.
He embarked on an academic career, working successively as a
teaching assistant at the Law Faculty of the University of Lisbon, int the Department of Political
Science, University of Geneva, and as a visiting professor at the Department of Government and
School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.). In 1995, he became Head of the
International Relations Department of Lusíada University, Lisbon. In 1979, he founded the
University Association for European Studies.
His political career began in 1980 when he joined the Social
Democratic Party (PSD). He was named President of the party in 1999 and re-elected three times.
During the same period, he served as Vice President of the European People's Party. In April 2002,
he was elected Prime Minister of Portugal. He remained in office until July 2004 when he became
President-designate of the European Commission.
José Manuel Barroso was awarded honorary degrees by Roger Williams
University, Rhode Island (2005), Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (2006), University of
Genoa, Italy (2006), University of Kobe (2006) and Sapienza University of Rome (2007). He was also
declared "European of the year 2006" by the magazine European Voice. He is the author of numerous
publications on political science, international relations and the European Union, including "Le
système politique portugais face à l'intégration européenne", Lisbon and Lausanne, 1983; "Uma Certa
Ideia de Europa", 1999; "Mudar de Modelo", 2002 and "Reformar: Dois Anos de Governo", 2004.
He is married to Margarida Sousa Uva. The couple have three
children: Luís, Guilherme and Francisco.
Partners