The current president of the commission, José Manuel Barroso, received his 6th insignia of Doctor Honoris Causa from the hands of the president of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, in the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, accompanied, among others, by Prince Albert II of Monaco.
The insignia of Doctor Honoris Causa is the highest academic rank awarded to recognize a person’s academic and professional career. On this occasion, José Manuel Barroso received the medal of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and the corresponding diploma.
José Manuel Barroso was born in Lisbon on March 23, 1956. He holds a law degree from the University of Lisbon, followed by a degree in European studies from the Institute of European Studies at the University of Geneva, and then a master’s in political science from the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Geneva, both with honors.
He began an academic career and worked successively as an assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, assistant at the Department of Political Science of the University of Geneva, and visiting professor at the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (Washington). In 1995, he was appointed director of the Department of International Relations at the Lusíada University of Lisbon. In 1979, he founded the University Association of European Studies.
His political career began in 1980 when he became a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was elected 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 the Portuguese government. He held this position until his appointment to the presidency of the European Commission in July 2004.
