Ruben de Freitas Cabral

Ruben Duarte de Freitas Cabral was born on March 26, 1946, in Ponta Delgada, Island of S. Miguel, Azores. His father was George Filipe Cavaco Cabral (1919–2012) from Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel, Azores, and his mother was Noemi Laurentina Duarte de Freitas Cabral (1929–2012), born in Monte – Funchal, Madeira Islands. He descends from some of the first 15th century settlers of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, since Gonçalo Velho Cabral, the discoverer of the Azores, is a grand-uncle (16 generations), and João Gonçalves Zarco (the Portuguese King later added da Câmara to his name), the discoverer of the Madeira Islands, a grandfather (17 generations). Professor Cabral married Maria de Fátima de Andrade Cabral (m. 1973–2000) and had three daughters Alexandra Claudia de Andrade Cabral (1974), Filipa Renata Cabral-Rinne (née de Andrade Cabral – 1978) and Victoria Andrea Cabral-Santos (née de Andrade Cabral – 1992) and with Olga Nikolaevna Tsvirkun de Freitas Cabral (m. 2001) with whom he has a son Alexandre Emanuel Tsvirkun de Freitas Cabral (2002).

Professor Cabral was educated in Portugal, Germany, and the United States, having been awarded a Doctor of Education by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

He served in the Portuguese armed forces as a lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers from 1967 to 1970. He was stationed in the Escola Prática de Infantaria, Mafra, and in CICA 1, Porto, during his instruction, and after promotion in CICA 5, Lagos, and in the Escola Prática do Serviço de Material, Sacavém.

During his 21 years in the United States (1971–1992), Professor Cabral established his professional and civic credentials through his work as an educational administrator, civic leader, and community developer. During this time, he was a member of the boards of directors of several organizations:

● COPA – Cambridge Organization of Portuguese-Americans (1974–1987)

● Cambridge Mental Health Association (1989–1991)

● Mount Auburn Foundation (1988–1991)

● Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center (1984–1987)

● Cambridge School Volunteers (1984–1988)

● Cambridge Community Services (1984–1990)

Professor Cabral was also a community organizer, having been the Executive Director of COPA, a member of its Board (1972–1987), and was deeply involved in various social, educational, and political activities. Governor Michael Dukakis appointed him to the Special Committee on Portuguese- American Affairs of the General Court of Massachusetts (State Parliament), where he served from 1987 to 1991.

He was elected as the representative of the Portuguese-speaking community in the United States to the Council of Portuguese Communities, having served in its Standing Committee from 1986 to 1991. He was also elected chairman of the Cambridge – Coimbra Sister – Cities Committee and led the organization from 1982 to 1991.

On June 1, 2, and 3, 1973, the First Congress of the Portuguese in America was convened and held at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, with representatives from all over the United States. Professor Cabral was one of its founders and its coordinator. This Congress, which had comprehensive media coverage, was convoked to address several developmental and discriminatory issues at the State and Federal levels of the United States. Most goals and objectives were achieved.

Between 1974 and 1976, Professor Cabral served as a consultant to the Ethnic Studies Branch of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare of the United States Government, in Washington, DC.

He also worked as a Counselor at the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences.

In 1978, Professor Cabral was elected a Master at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, founded in 1643, where he later started The Academy. Dr. Tony Wagner studied Professor Cabral's work at CRLS and of two other educational reformers as part of his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. The dissertation was later published, in hardcover and paperback, under the title: How schools change.

He served at CRLS until 1991, when he returned to Portugal at the behest of the Luso-International Foundation to establish international private schools that could best meet the needs of young people in an increasingly complex and globalized world. Four such institutions were created in Porto, Braga, Marinha Grande, and Torres Vedras (this one was under the direct administration of Professor José Maria de Almeida, a former student, colleague, and friend).

From 1992 onwards, Professor Cabral was also a faculty member at the Catholic University of Portugal, where he lectured and coordinated the Master's degree program in Educational Administration. He also taught at the João de Deus Graduate School of Education and the Open University of Lisbon. While in Portugal, he was a member of several organizations, such as the Institute for Cooperation and Development Portugal–Orient and the Portuguese Political Science Association.

In 2000, Professor Cabral was invited by a foundation based in Zurich to be part of a team of international academics selected to establish a university in today’s North Macedonia. This university was designed to assist the education of the Albanian-speaking population. Until then, Albanian students could only attend the Macedonian-speaking national university. The foundation of SEE University was a United Nations project co-funded by George Soros. He and Professor George Papadopoulos, former Vice-Director of UNESCO, were responsible for the negotiations that led to the School of Psychology and Education organization at the soon-to-be-founded university in Tetovo, Macedonia.

In 2003, the Cardinal and Patriarch of Lisbon, Dom José da Cruz Policarpo, the Magnum Chancellor of the Catholic University in Portugal and Chancellor of the University Institute in Macau, appointed Professor Cabral as Rector of Macau Inter-University Institute (IIUM), later renamed the University of Saint Joseph. During his tenure, the student body grew from around 100 to 2000 students from 68 countries, an international faculty, and an academic program portfolio of more than 60 courses at the Licentiate, Master's, and Doctoral levels. Designed as a rigorous, flexible, and international institution of higher learning, the University became, under his leadership, the only University outside Europe affiliated with the European Association of Higher Education Institutions and one of the first paperless universities. In addition, a new green campus was designed with Professor Koji Yagi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

In 2012 Professor Cabral returned to Portugal and lectured at the João de Deus Graduate School of Education.

In 2018, the University of Africa at Toru Orua, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, enlisted him as the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, where he served until October 2022. In addition, he was instrumental in establishing the University of London Teaching Centre at the University of Africa. Professor Cabral is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Fundação Mário Botas, which includes a Museum, in Nazaré, Portugal.

An often-invited speaker, Professor Cabral published numerous articles and authored several publications, especially O Novo Voo de Ícaro. Discursos em educação (Icaro’s new flight. Discourses on Education). Most of his writings are available at https://uafricatoruorua.academia.edu/RubendeFreitasCabral. Professor Cabral was awarded 1987 the Medal for Valor and Merit of the Secretariat of State for Portuguese Communities, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Portugal. In 1990, he was made a Commander of the Order of Merit by the President of the Portuguese Republic, and in 2020 received the Brazilian military decoration – Amigos da Marinha.

References

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