Nuno Crato
Minister of Education and Science
Nuno Crato is a Full Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at
the Higher Institute of Economics and Management, Lisbon. He was
Pro-rector for Scientific Culture at the Lisbon Technical
University (2007-2011), C.E.O. of Taguspark (2010-2011), Scientific
Co-ordinator of Cemapre - FCT Research Centre for Applied
Mathematics and Economics (2007-2011), and President of the
Portuguese Mathematical Society (2004-2010).
He studied at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, and
graduated in Economics from the Higher Institute of Economics and
Management (ISEG), where he obtained a Masters degree in
Mathematical Methods for Business Management. He has been Director
of Studies and Consultancy at Norma-Açores and a Planning and
Economic Forecasting Consultant. He completed his Ph.D. in Applied
Mathematics in the United States, where he worked as a researcher
and lecturer.
A member of several international scientific societies,
including the American Statistical Association and the
International Institute of Forecasters, he was General Chair for
the International Symposium on Forecasting in 2000. He has had
numerous research papers published in leading international
journals, v.g. Statistical Papers, Comp. & Operations Research,
Communications in Statistics, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of
Automated Reasoning and Journal of Forecasting.
He has been actively involved in the popularisation of science
and writes regularly for the national press, in particular for the
Expresso weekly newspaper, in which he has had a regular science
column since 1996. He is also the author of several radio and
television programmes, namely «4xCiência» «2010» and «ABCiência»
and «3 Minutos de Ciência» on Radio Europa.
He is the author of several popularising books on mathematics
and astronomy and books on education, including «O Eduquês em
Discurso Directo: Uma Crítica da Pedagogia Romântica e
Construtivista» (Gradiva, 2006). He was the Editor of «Desastre no
Ensino da Matemática: Como Recuperar o Tempo Perdido» (SPM/Gradiva,
2006). He Co-ordinated «Ser Professor» (Gradiva, 2006), a
collection of texts by Rómulo de Carvalho, and the 2008 Gulbenkian
International Conference on Education: «Matemática e Ensino:
Questões e Soluções». He has been a member of the Scientific
Advisory Board of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and
co-ordinator of the Foundation's Education Project.
In 2003, the European Mathematical Society awarded him first
prize in the Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics competition in
recognition of his achievements in popularising science. In 2008,
the European Union awarded him a European Science Award.