Barroso to Lead FLAD, Strengthening US-Portugal Research and Scholarships

José Manuel Durão Barroso is returning to public service, this time across the Atlantic. The former Portuguese prime minister and veteran European Commission leader will assume command of the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) next week, a move Lisbon insiders say could reset Portugal’s partnership with the United States at a moment when trans-Atlantic research funding is fiercely competitive.

Why it matters now

• €85 M endowment ready for new projects

• Lisbon wants stronger science ties with U.S. labs

• Diaspora groups hope for fresh scholarships and startup grants

• Washington signals diplomatic backing for the appointment

A fresh brief for an aging institution

Created in 1985 from defence-accord money tied to Lajes Air Base, FLAD has long punched above its financial weight by placing Portuguese scientists in American universities, underwriting cultural tours and seeding joint ventures. Yet insiders concede the foundation’s brand has faded. By placing a globally-known statesman at the top of both its board and executive committee, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro is betting on instant visibility in U.S. think-tank corridors and Silicon Valley accelerators.

Barroso’s toolkit: diplomacy meets academia

Before Brussels and Goldman Sachs, the 69-year-old jurist built a résumé that blends international relations theory, hard-nosed negotiation and classroom credentials from Geneva and Georgetown. Allies say those combined networks will let him broker research pacts faster than a career bureaucrat. Skeptics counter that his corporate ties—he still chairs the EurAfrican Forum—could blur FLAD’s non-profit mandate.

What could change for Luso-Americans

Diaspora organisations in Massachusetts and California told Público they expect three priorities:

Bigger language grants to public schools struggling to keep Portuguese on the curriculum.

Seed money for biotech spin-offs born in U.S. universities but looking for affordable clinical trials in Porto or Braga.

Visa-neutral fellowships that move PhD candidates seamlessly between the two countries.Barroso’s office would not confirm a timeline, but aides hinted at an “ambitious first-year call for proposals” due by early summer.

Funding, partners and oversight

The foundation lives off the yield of its original capital plus modest public co-financing for specific calls. Core allies include Fulbright Portugal, the Serralves Foundation, and Georgetown University. A senior finance-ministry source told Expresso that no extra Treasury cash is planned; the expectation is that Barroso will “unlock private U.S. philanthropy” to scale programs.

Early applause—and pointed cautions

• Across the Atlantic, the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States called the pick “a coup for our community.”• At home, the Socialist opposition praised Barroso’s stature but demanded “strict transparency” on any overlap with his banking roles.• Economic columnist Helena Garrido cautioned that FLAD must avoid becoming “a personal diplomacy tool” for its chair.

The road ahead

Barroso formally takes office on 15 January. First on his agenda: a listening tour through Boston, Newark and San José to test-drive program ideas with diaspora entrepreneurs. If all goes to plan, the foundation could announce its largest grant round in a decade by September, just as Portugal readies its next EU presidency bid. For now, both Lisbon and Washington seem united in the belief that a high-profile reboot of FLAD is precisely the soft-power nudge the Atlantic relationship needs.