IFT’s first president, Dr. Virgínia Trigo, has been awarded on behalf of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the title of Commander of the Order of Public Instruction. Dr. Trigo, who led IFT between 1995 and 2001, was decorated for her services to education.
“I feel very pleased and happy with this honour, especially because my country has recognised work that is taking place in China,” Dr. Trigo says.
“Frankly, I was quite surprised,” she adds. “I did not realise that people were paying attention to my work which is mostly conducted out of the limelight.”
She received the award – one of Portugal’s highest honours – at a ceremony held on 14 December in Mainland China at the Consulate General of Portugal in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. It was presented to her by Consul-General Mr. André Sobral Cordeiro.
Dr. Trigo works as Director of China Programmes for ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon, one of Portugal’s top universities. She lives in Mainland China, moving between Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and Guangzhou. She manages 2 high-profile Doctor of Business Administration programmes offered by ISCTE in cooperation respectively with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, based in Chengdu, and Guangzhou’s Southern Medical University.
Her work in the field of education in Asia began in Macao; first at the University of Macau and later at IFT. Dr. Trigo says the award by the Portuguese President also recognises her contributions to the development of IFT.
“IFT is and will always be, my most cherished memory,” she says. “I spent only 6 years there, but they were extremely intense ones and marked a very important period historically for Macao. All of us felt that, in one way or the other, we were part of history.” That was a reference to the period leading to the return of Macao to China, which took place in 1999.
Dr. Trigo says being the first president of IFT gave her the opportunity to “create something new”. She adds: “I was very lucky to have a fantastic team working with me while setting up IFT; many of its members are still there.”
Dr. Trigo plans to continue engagement in higher education in China. “My work in China is long term,” she says. “For the past 10 years, I have been developing 2 doctoral programmes in cooperation with 2 well-reputed universities and the reputation of the programmes is growing exponentially year after year.”
