Coffee Chat with Javier Solana

    • Event: “The role of scientists in policy making”
  • When: Friday, March 29, 2013
  • Where: E62-550
  • Sponsors: Spain@MIT

Last Friday, March 29, Spain@MIT celebrated the exclusive Coffee Chat “The role of scientists in policy making” with Javier Solana, Former Secretary General of NATO (1995–1999), European Union’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (1999-2009), and PhD in Physics. During the event, a selected group of MIT affiliates –including students, researchers and professors– had the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Solana about the current challenges of Spain and how scientists could contribute to tackle them.

The session was preceded by a tour of the MIT, in which Mr. Solana visited several of the most representative laboratories, offices and buildings in the Institute. He also met with remarkable Spanish authorities and researchers at the university, such as Israel Ruiz, Executive Vice President and Treasurer at MIT, and Pablo Jarillo, Mitsui Career Development Assistant Professor of Physics who was honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, “the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers”. After the coffee chat, an informal dinner was held with Mr. Solana, Prof. Jarillo, Spain@MIT officers and several of the attendants.

Mr. Solana is Fisher Fellow for the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard, a project “dedicated to promoting the study and understanding of diplomacy, negotiation and statecraft in international politics today”. His experience at NATO and the European Union makes him one of the most authorized voices in Spanish and international policymaking.

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Coffee Chat with Javier Solana