Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs to speak at Rice’s Baker Institute June 7

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs to speak at Rice’s Baker Institute June 7
Paulo Portas will discuss trade and energy issues

HOUSTON – (June 4, 2012) – Paulo Portas, Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs and minister of state, will discuss Portuguese and European trade and energy issues at the Baker Institute Energy Forum at 4 p.m. June 7 at Rice University’s Duncan Hall. Amy Myers Jaffe and Kenneth Medlock, fellows of Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, will also speak.

Portas was appointed to his position in June 2011. He is also serving his sixth term as a member of the Portuguese Parliament, as well as his second term as president of the Democratic and Social Centre-People’s Party. 

Who: Paulo Portas, Portuguese minister of foreign affairs and minister of state.

What: Lecture on Portuguese and European trade and energy issues.

When: Thursday, June 7, 4-5:30 p.m.

Where: Rice University, Duncan Hall, McMurtry Auditorium, 6100 Main St.

Since entering politics in 1995, Portas has twice served as Portugal’s minister of national defense and has held posts in the Council of State, the High Council for Homeland Security and the High Council for National Defense. Previously a journalist for major publications including Tempo, A Tarde and Semanário, he founded and directed an opinion poll center and the weekly newspaper O Independente. Portas received a law degree from the Portuguese Catholic University, where he taught a course on the history of political thought in 1996. 

The event is free and open to the public. Register at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/discussion-with-his-excellency-paulo-portas.

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Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute sponsors more than 20 programs that conduct research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.