Emil Constantinescu

History

Born November 19th 1939 in Tighina (now Republic of Moldova), Emil Constantinescu is an academic, civic leader, politician and geologist working to strengthen democracy and empower civil society. He holds three degrees in Law and Geology as well as several academic positions. He is also the President of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.

Early life and Education

After attending school in Pitesti, Romania, Emil Constantinescu read law at the University of Bucharest, graduating in 1960. He then went on to receive his second degree in Geology (1996) and doctorate in Geology and Geography (1979). Moreover, he has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Duke University, USA.

Career

Upon completion of his law degree in 1960 he was then appointed probationer judge at the local court in Pitesti, a position which he was forced to give up due to the political climate. He then came to return to university to study Geology at the Geographical faculty. During many years of political unrest in the 90’s he was a founding member of the Civic Alliance where he was vice president from 1990 to 1996 and president from 1990 to 1993. Most notably, he served as President of Romania from 1996 to 2000, leading the CDR coalition to a landslide 38% victory.

Academic Work

Emil Constantinescu is a respected scholar in national as well as international academic circles. From 1966 he held the position of assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Geology and since 1991 has been professor of Mineralogy at the Doctoral School of the University of Bucharest. 1991-1992 he worked as visiting professor to Duke University, USA and he has been the author of twelve specialty books, including “Mineralogy in the System of Earth Sciences” which was published by Imperial College, London and launched at Cambridge University by Professor John Deer, former vice chancellor. Moreover, Emil Constantinescu has published over 60 studies in various important scientific journals. He is an honorary member of the Geological and Mineralogical societies of Great Britain, Germany, USA, Japan and Greece. He has also lectured at the universities of Tübingen, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Columbia, Georgetown, Indiana, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lima, Sydney, Melbourne, Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava, Turku, Cairo, Lublin and Kiev as well as being Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universities in Liège, Athens, Montréal, New Delhi, Beijing, Ankara, Sofia, Maribor, Chisinau, Bangkok, Astana and of the Ecole Normale Supérieure – Paris.

Roles

• President of the International Election Supervisory Commission for the 2011 parliamentary elections and 2007 presidential elections in Senegal as well as the 2011 parliamentary elections in Tunisia.
• Co-chairman of the World Justice Project since 2007 and one of the WJP Directors since 2008 (http://worldjusticeproject.org/?q=board-of-directors).
• Founded the New Democracies Forum in 2008, together with Lech Walesa, former President of Poland; Zhelyu Zvelev, former President of Bulgaria; Frederik Willem de Klerk, former President of South Africa; Kim Young-Sam, former President of the Republic of Korea; Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez, former President of the republic El Salvador.
• Initiated the Task Force for Belarus together with Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of Poland and former Foreign Affairs Ministers from Central European ad the Baltic countries. (http://www.icdt.hu/projects/projects-by-regions/central-and-eastern-europe/task-force-on-us-foreign-policy-towards-central-and-eastern-europe)
• Involved in the foundation of ACT (Advisors on Cuban Transition) in 2008, together with Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland, Mart Laar, former Prime Minister of Estonia and Viktor Orban, former Prime Minister of Hungary.(http://www.miniszterelnok.hu/in_english_article/advisors_on_cuban_transition_roundtable_founded)
• Permanent guest and speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum since 2009. (http://www.oslofreedomforum.com/speakers/emil_constantinescu.html).
• Member of the International Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin since 2011 and president of the Academy of Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin (http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en_advisoryboard).
• Member of the Habitat for Humanity International Board of Directors since 2010 (one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world) (http://www.habitat.org/how/ibod.aspx).
• Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) since 2010. (http://www.worldacademy.org/content/trustees) and Trustee in the WAAS Board of Trustees in 2011.

External Links and References

• Official Website: http://www.constantinescu.ro/en/biografie.html