European Union Ambassador to the United States João Vale de Almeida will visit UMass Dartmouth at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9. His visit will include a tour of the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives and a public discussion at the Grand Reading Room of the Claire T. Carney Library. The public is invited to the public discussion at 3:30 p.m.
European Union Ambassador to the United States João Vale de Almeida will visit UMass Dartmouth at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9. His visit will include a tour of the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives and a public discussion at the Grand Reading Room of the Claire T. Carney Library. The public is invited to the public discussion at 3:30 p.m.
The event is presented by the Massachusetts Legislative Caucus on International Trade and Global Competitiveness and the Massachusetts Portuguese-American Legislative Caucus, co-chaired by Senator Marc R. Pacheco, D-Taunton, and Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford.
Ambassador Vale de Almeida is the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. Prior to his appointment in Washington as the European Union's Ambassador, he served as the Director General for External Relations at the European Commission, the European Union's executive body.
The Ambassador helped formulate and execute the EU's foreign policy and played a key role in preparing for the new European External Action Service (EEAS) introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon.
As Head of Cabinet for European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Ambassador Vale de Almeida was the President's Personal Representative for the negotiations on the Treaty of Lisbon, and acted as the EU "Sherpa" for G8 and G20 Summits.
Earlier, Ambassador Vale de Almeida held several senior positions in the European Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, and the Directorate General for Education and Culture, and served as Deputy Chief Spokesman of the European Commission.
"I'm honored and humbled that the European Union Ambassador to the United States is taking time to visit Southeastern Massachusetts to engage in a dialogue with our political, business, academic and community leaders about relations between the European Union and the United States," Senator Pacheco said. "The Ambassador has a long and distinguished history of public service to his homeland of Portugal and to the European Union. He knows the United States well and I know he looks forward to learning more about Southeastern Massachusetts through this event. We are pleased to host the Ambassador's visit with two of our fine higher education institutions in order to provide him broad and positive exposure to the region."
"It's an honor to meet with Ambassador Joao Vale de Almedia," said Representative Cabral. "These visits foster positive relationships between the U.S. and other nations and promote Massachusetts and the SouthCoast as destinations for trade and economic development."
"We are honored to have this opportunity to meet the Ambassador and we look forward to a robust conversation about strengthening the economic, educational and cultural connections between our region and the EU," UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman said.
Please respond by August 7 to Amy Mangold at amangold@umassd.edu or 508.999.8004.