Portuguese people who stand out abroad are helping to find out where business opportunities are and what kind of companies and activities the country can attract. An initiative that brings together Negócios and the Portuguese Diaspora Council.

1- How, why and when did your ancestors leave Portugal and colonize the Azores and later emigrate to the United States?

I spent several years exploring this question through ancestral records and DNA. My paternal line were the first settlers of the Azores, landing on Santa Maria Island in the mid-1400s and earlier on Madeira Island. They came for Portugal’s glory as Knights of Christ and descendants of Dom Alfonso Henriques.  Rapid expansion of the population on a small island (16 km end to end) caused many to emigrate to larger Azorean islands, Brazil, or the United States.  My maternal line, from Pico Island, resided there since the 1600s and derived from the Flemish and Portuguese settlers of the 15th century.  These grandparents were not unique in leaving the islands for America at the turn of the 20th century, following the whaling trail to Massachusetts and later California. America offered opportunities with hard work and saving, and my grandparents and later parents held to that goal in farming and other manual labor.  The Portuguese American community that I know from the mid-20th century until now was not focused on returning to Portugal beyond visiting and festas. There was little that differentiated us from Anglo-America.  It was only in the year 2000 that I “discovered” Portuguese identity through scientific colleagues.  Carlos Garcia, University of Lisbon, invited me to Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto. While there I met Arsélio Pato de Carvalho, University of Coimbra, and he put into perspective major threads of the Portuguese diaspora, as he had spent his youth in California.  He noted the low education attainment of Portuguese Americans which I later confirmed through US census data as the lowest among Old World immigrants (exceptions being Amish and Romani that both discourage education).  Second, Arsélio suggested low education attainment and focus on savings was likely a result of desire to build wealth to return to Portugal, and like other groups where the dream of return fades. 

Prior to Carlos and Arsélio, I thought of my origins from peasant farmers from an equally poor country.  Exploring Portuguese history and academia through the lens of my genetic thread inspired Portuguese identity and return to Portugal in spirit.  On numerous occasions I served as a reviewer of programs for Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, University of Coimbra, and Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). I was chair of the National Organization of Portuguese Americans and am active in PAPS and PALCUS with a focus on increasing Portuguese identity and building bridges to others of the Iberian diaspora.   Over the quarter century working closely with Portugal I have witnessed a miracle of rapid intellectual resurgence that I doubt is seen elsewhere

2- What have you learned from finding your Portuguese identity?

I attributed many of my familial traits to my youth on a farm in an isolated portion of the Central Coast of California.  Among these were hard work, frugal finances, and strong family values.  I later learned from marriage to a Mexico City woman, that these values were shared among other Iberians. With ties to Portugal, I learned the relative lack of formal education was common among Portuguese Americans and in surveying my family found most were discouraged from advanced education in favor of early employment.  In contrast, my father encouraged education and exploring the natural world. The study of marine biology is directly linked to my family’s close ties with the sea.  Portuguese adaptability was critical to applying marine biology to brain science and disease.

3- What is your contribution to Portugal and Portuguese Americans?

With pride in Portuguese identity came an obligation to contribute to our people in America and Portugal.  I helped found the National Organization of Portuguese Americans (NOPA) to create greater awareness and pride of identity.  We organized educational events for Portuguese youth and informed the community of political events.

I was a frequent speaker and supporter of the Portuguese American Postgraduate Society (PAPS) where I highlighted the shared and contrasting background of Portuguese Americans and Portuguese.

His Excellency Domingos Vital, Portuguese Ambassador to the US, appointed me to his consul.

Portugal often uses my scientific expertise in Neuroscience-Alzheimer’s disease to review center programs for the FCT as well as individual projects.  Over a decade period I had the great honor to advise and review the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa Prizes in Neuroscience. Through these reviews, I followed Portugal developing world class programs.  Yet there is much to be done to create the confidence to undertake cutting edge research–the basis is now there, but the next steps are critical.    I have a strong connection with the University of Coimbra as an advisor, mentor, collaborator, and friend. These efforts were recognized by my election to the Academy of Science Lisbon.

4- What recommendations would you give to Portugal and its entrepreneurs and managers?

First, the US has much to learn from Portugal that has recovered and modernized an economy in record time.  Yet Portugal must not be too self-congratulatory about its progress. While Portugal has initiated numerous ventures in high-tech sectors, e.g. energy, it is insufficient to launch the entire citizenry in a country that historically is often risk averse and with disparate skill levels.  I see this changing, but it is critical that momentum builds to place Portugal as the premier competitor in selected sectors and then make the world aware.  Inclusion of the Portuguese population in ventures that promote the future while building on traditional industry is also critical to promote social welfare. Further success additionally requires informed and aligned policy in education, training, government, industry, and capital. 

5- In which sectors of the country where you live can Portuguese companies find clients?

The United States has propelled the modern world and fed it.  Innovation in the states of California, Texas and Washington have created the modern world.  These centers are markets for the biotech and cyber industries of Portugal.  With pressure to diversify suppliers to US allies, with cost effective skilled labor, Portugal is well positioned to fill US needs in electronics and biotech. Centers in Lisbon currently serve leaders in the European pharmaceutical industry in GMP biomanufacturing but are less known in the US.  Biocant, Coimbra, is a model for university-private partnership seldom seen in US universities, yet again not well known in the US.  With only a single major pharmaceutical company, Bial, opportunities for drug development are limited in Portugal. The expertise and capital in the US will speed development of Portugal as suppliers, innovators, and producers of end products.

A strong tradition of agriculture penetrates both the US and Portugal.  Greater appreciation of the increased quality of Portuguese food, olive oil and wine are slowly appreciated, but more marketing can be done to have brand identity beyond the few known products with the goal of realizing the profit potential of increased demand. This year, the largest premium grocery market in Texas, Central Market, held “Passport to Portugal” that featured authentic Portuguese food.  The event led to crowded stores and a greater appreciation of Portuguese cuisine as unique, sophisticated and by extension what Portugal has to offer in other sectors similarly merits consideration. 

Finally, the numerous Portuguese Americans in the US must be enlisted as ambassadors to mutual opportunities whether it be in technology or marketing.

6- What is the competitive advantage of the country you are in that could be replicated in Portugal?

Technology stands out, biotechnology and the cyber world.  I have followed biotech and cyber technology in Portugal for a quarter century and its progress and status is world class. Portuguese universities have important educational partnerships with the University of Texas at Austin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Medical School bringing confidence to the resident talent. Technology in the US directly sprung from universities (e.g. Silicon Valley-Stanford University) and Portugal has a similar model in Biocant-University of Coimbra. Portugal should continue to look for best practices to develop its own model. It is essential that governmental and industrial policy retain skilled and creative workers, so they fuel domestic development rather than depart as so often happened in the past.

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