Columbia University will host the 2015 Brazilian Undergraduate Student Conference. The Brazilian Undergraduate Student Conference brings together Brazilian undergraduates studying in the United States and others interested in Brazil for networking, workshops, lectures and roundtables.
2014 speakers included Jorge Paulo Lemann, Manuela Davila, Marcelo Freixo, and Marcelo Gleiser.
Speakers in 2015 conference:
Cristovam Buarque is a senator for the Federal District of Brazil, and will be in office until 2018. He was the governor of the Federal District from 1995 to 1998 and Minister of Education during the Lula administration, from 2003 to 2004. In 2006, he ran for president winning 3% of the valid votes. He is known to be a tireless advocate of education as the key for a country’s development. His most well known project is the “Bolsa Escola” program, which aims to ensure access to education for low-income children. Cristovam has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco and obtained his doctorate in economics from the University of Sorbonne in France.
Miguel Nicolelis has a degree in Medicine and a doctorate in General Physiology, from the University of São Paulo. He is currently a Professor of Neurobiology and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. Nicolelis leads a group of neuroscience research at Duke, and his work deals with the integration of the human brain and machines. Their designs have earned him the titles of one of the twenty greatest scientists in the world by the "Scientific American" magazine and of one of the 100 most influential Brazilians of 2009 by the Journal Times. He also received the Make a Difference Award - Personality of the year in 2011 from the Brazilian newspaper "O Globo".
Carlos Brito is the CEO of AB-InBev, the largest beer company in the world. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Stanford University. Brito began his career in Brahma in 1989 and continued in the company that in 1999 became AmBev. He worked in several areas of the company such as sales, operations, and finance, and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2004.
Gregorio Duvivier is an actor, writer and comedian, who graduated in Arts from PUC-Rio. He began his acting career at age 9 and at 17 he produced the piece “Z.É. Zenas Emprovisadas”, which premiered in 2003 and continues to be in theaters in Brazil. His book of poems "A partir de amanhã eu juro que a vida vai ser agora" ("From tomorrow on I swear that life will be now") was acclaimed by critics and praised by important Brazilian authors such as Millor Fernandes and Gullar. Gregorio is also one of the creators of the comedy Youtube channel series "Porta dos Fundos" and also writes a weekly column in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
Dr. Albert Fishlow is a Harvard graduate and was the director of the Columbia Institute of Latin American Studies. He also worked as the director of the Center for the Study of Brazil at Columbia University. Fishlow was the Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a consultant to various companies and academic institutions. In recently published research, he has addressed the economic history and the development strategy of Brazil and Latin America as well as the economic relations between industrialized countries and developing countries. Albert Fishlow was awarded the National Order of the Southern Cross by the government of Brazil.
Luis Roberto Barroso is a minister of the Supreme Court since 2013. He graduated in law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, where he currently lectures. Barroso obtained his master's degree from Yale Law School, and has a PhD from UERJ, where he helped create the graduate program in Public Law. Barroso is the author of several books on constitutional law and is most known for advocating in favor of research with embryonic stem cells, of legal recognition to stable homosexual unions, and for defending nepotism prohibition in the judiciary.
Hugo Bethlem is a Managing Partner and Co Founder of A10 Investments - an independent company specialized in financial consultancy - and CEO and Co Founder of "Quasi-Pronti do Brazil", a fast food restaurants chain that started operating in June of 2013 and currently has five points of sale in shopping centers in São Paulo. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Dotlegend - a developer and operator applications for smartphones. Hugo Bethlem has a degree in business administration from FMU SP and one in Accounting from Paulo Eiró in Sao Paulo, with specialization in Management and Entrepreneurship from Cornell University, and in Strategy and Board of Directors from the IMD in Switzerland. From 2001 to 2012, he was the vice President of Corporate Relations at Grupo Pão de Açúcar.
Source: http://brazusc.com/en