José Manuel Barroso was born on March 23, 1956 in Lisbon, Portugal. He received a law degree from the University of Lisbon as well as a Diploma in European Studies and an MSc in Political Science from the University of Geneva. José Manuel Barroso began his career in academics, working as a teaching assistant at the University of Lisbon and the University of Geneva. He was also a visiting professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In 1979, he was one of the founders of AUROP, the Portuguese University Association for European Studies and later became the first editor of the Revista de Ciência Política. In 1980, José Manuel Barroso joined the center right Democratic Popular Party (later the Social Democratic Party). He was first elected to the Portuguese parliament in 1985 and was re-elected six times thereafter. In 1999 he was elected President of the PSD and re-elected three times. During the same period, he served as Vice President of the European People's Party. Between 1987 and 1992, José Manuel Barroso served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal, where he played a key role as mediator of the peace accords for Angola in Bicesse (Estoril, Portugal). As Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1985-1987, he launched the talks under the auspices of the UN Secretary General that ultimately led to the independence of East Timor. José Manuel Barroso was appointed Prime Minister of Portugal in 2002. He remained in office until 2004 when he became President of the European Commission. In 2009 his Presidency was renewed for a second term. In 2014, he became a member of the Steering Committee of Bilderberg Meetings and a member of the Board of Trustees of the UEFA Foundation for Children. In 2016, José Manuel Barroso became non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International (GSI), the bank's largest subsidiary. He also serves as an adviser to the bank. José Manuel Barroso is member of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity since 2015 and member of the Electoral Integrity Initiative of the Kofi Annan Foundation since 2016.