Rio Branco Chair at Brazil Institute

Principal Professor Rick Trainor signed an agreement yesterday at the Brazilian Embassy, creating the Rio Branco Chair, a prestigious international position at the College.

The Chair is supported by Brazilian higher education research council CAPES (a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and the Rio Branco Institute of Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, and represents a step forward in the collaboration between the College and Brazilian institutions. Principal Professor Rick Trainor signed the agreement at the Brazilian Embassy on Monday 10 October alongside Brazilian Ambassador, His Excellency Roberto Jaguaribe, and the President of CAPES Jorge Almeida Guimarães.

The Chair is in commemoration of José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco; one of Brazil’s most prominent statesmen who was appointed foreign minister of Brazil in 1902 and served until 1912, under four different presidents. He negotiated territorial disputes between Brazil and its geographical neighbours to consolidate the country’s modern borders, and was one of the most important architects of Brazilian foreign policy in the twentieth century.

The Chair will be filled for the first time in September 2012, and holders of the chair can stay for a term, even up to one year. The individual will teach in the Brazil Institute about Brazilian foreign policy and international relations, give public lectures, and conduct research in their area of expertise.

Anthony Pereira, Director of Brazil Institute, commented: ‘We are delighted by the agreement to create the Rio Branco Chair at King’s. This year the Brazil Institute has welcomed its first cohort of MA and PhD students, and it is very exciting to know that we shall soon welcome an annual visitor from Brazil who is a specialist in international relations. This will boost our programme enormously, allowing us to benefit from the expertise in Brazil’s international relations community. Each year the holder of the Rio Branco Chair will be able to contribute to knowledge about Brazil’s new global initiatives in areas such as peacekeeping, international development, food security, climate change, alternative energy, and social policy.’

Principal Professor Rick Trainor stated: ‘It is with great pleasure that I sign this agreement between King’s College London, CAPES, and the Rio Branco Institute of Brazil’s Foreign Ministry. We at King’s are delighted by the creation of a new visiting professorship that bears the name of Brazil’s most renowned and accomplished diplomat, the Baron of Rio Branco.

‘At King’s we have created the Brazil Institute because we recognize Brazil’s growing global influence and want to partner with Brazilian institutions in higher education, the creative and cultural industries, business, government, and civil society. It will be a great benefit to King’s to be able to count each year on the presence of a Brazilian scholar of international relations. We hope that this succession of specialists will spread awareness, here in London and beyond, of the changing global role of Brazil.

‘We hope that while the holders of the Rio Branco Chair spread awareness of Brazil’s global presence in London, they will also get to know the academic community at King’s College London, and develop long-lasting partnerships that lead to new research on some of the challenges facing Britain and Brazil. These partnerships will strengthen our already-growing relationships with some of Brazil’s best universities.’

For more details about King’s, see our ’ King’s in Brief ’ page.

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