Antonio Guterres has been Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) since 1 January 2017. He was previously United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, thereby becoming the 10th High Commissioner of the HCR. Prior to taking office at the HCR, António Guterres had spent over 20 years in government services and served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1996 to 2002.
From 1991 to 2002, António Guterres was also a member of the Council of State of Portugal. In the early 1980s, he was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Chairman of the Committee on Demography, Migration and Refugees. Previously, from 1976 to 1979, he was a member of the Committee on European Integration, which negotiated Portugal’s entry into the European Union.
In 1971, he graduated as an engineer from the Higher Technical Institute in Lisbon and lectured in physics and telecommunications in this institution from 1972 to 1975. Since 2003, he has been responsible for the sustainable development and innovation in quality chairs as visiting professor at the Higher Technical Institute.