Profile

Luís Veiga da Cunha graduated and received his Ph.D. (1971) in Civil Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon. His areas of interest are environmental and natural resources policy and management, with a focus on water resources.
He worked at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory, where he headed the Hydrology and River Hydraulics Unit (1971-1983). He was also Professor of Hydraulics at the Military Academy (1971-1983) and Visiting Professor at the University of Colorado (1975-1976).
He was Administrator of NATO’s Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division (1983-1999) in Brussels, directing innovative programs on global environmental change (1990-1996) and environmental security (1993-1998). Returning to Portugal in 1999, he was Visiting Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon until his retirement. He was a member of the National Water Council, the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990-2001).
He founded and chaired the Portuguese Water Resources Association (1977-1979), directed the International Water Resources Association and the River Hydraulics Committee of the International Hydraulics Research Association. He was on the editorial boards of the journals Water Policy (1998-2006) and Water International (1976-1980) and coordinated the Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity (2010-2013).  He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, the Portuguese Academy of Engineering, and the French Academy of Water.
Among the more than 150 published works, A Gestão da Água. Princípios Fundamentais e sua Aplicação em Portugal (Water Management: Fundamental Principles and Their Application in Portugal) (Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1980) stands out.
He was Minister of Education (1979-1980). He is a Grand Officer of the Portuguese Military Order of Sant’Iago da Espada (1998) and of the French National Order of Merit (1984).