Biography

Dr. José Manuel Ramos-Horta is the former President of East Timor, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and member of the Save the Dream High-Level Panel.

He served as President of Timor-Leste from 2007-2012, and Prime Minister from 2006-2007. He is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Bishop Carlos Belo, in honour of their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in Timor-Leste. Dr. Ramos-Horta has successfully mediated numerous conflicts and disputes in Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau and Colombia. He most recently served as the Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace Building Mission in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).

He is the Founding President of the Diplomacy and Human Rights Programme at the University of New South Wales and a member of the Honorary Advisory Council of the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard University. He currently also serves as a visiting professor at Victoria University and the University of New South Wales.

In recognition of his significant contributions to national peace and security, he was awarded an honorary Companion to the Order of Australia in 2014, the Order of Timor-Leste in 2012 and the Order of Dom Boaventura in 2006. Dr. Ramos-Horta has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by numerous universities in Australia, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Portugal, Brazil and the US. He is an accomplished author and writes extensively on international affairs for publications such as the International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast and Newsweek.

Leave a Reply