Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga y Salamanca (shortly Rafael R-Ponga, born 1960, in Madrid) is a Spanish linguist and high-ranking civil servant, with a wide administrative, academic and political activity. He is rector of

Abat Oliba CEU University Abat is a community in the former Shalë municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Euro ...

of Barcelona. He has been Secretary-General of

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important figur ...

Education

Dr. Ponga graduated in Hispanic

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. Years later, he obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

) in

at the same university. In 1984, he passed a process of public examination to become a funcionario. He first serviced at the Office of the Spokesperson of the Government (inside the

Palace of Moncloa The Palace of Moncloa or Moncloa Palace ( es, Palacio de la Moncloa) is the official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international o ...

Professional career

In 1987 he was appointed Counselor of Information and Press at the Spanish Embassy in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Back in Madrid in 1990, he serviced at the Ministry of the Spokesman of the Government and. He is appointed Sud-Director of Relations and Cooperation of the aforementioned Ministry in 1993, which is later transferred to the Ministry of the Presidency ( Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba being the Minister). Right after the electoral win by the PP in 1996, he is appointed Director-General of Cultural Cooperation and Communication by

Esperanza Aguirre Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma (; born 3 January 1952) is a Spanish politician. As member of the People's Party (PP), she served as President of the Senate between 1999 and 2002 (becoming the first female politician to have held the post), a ...

, the then Minister of Education and Culture. He kept his post in 1999 when

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

became the new Minister. He is transferred to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 2000 as Director-General of Cultural and Scientific Relations. A year later, he is appointed Secretary General of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation by the then Minister,

Josep Piqué Josep Piqué i Camps (born 21 February 1955 in Vilanova i la Geltrú) is a Spanish politician of the right-leaning Spanish People's Party (PP) who represented Barcelona. Pique was initially a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSU ...

. He will keep this post with

Ana Palacio Ana Isabel de Palacio y del Valle Lersundi (born 22 July 1948) in Madrid, daughter of Luis María de Palacio y de Palacio, 4th Marqués de Matonte, and wife Luisa Mariana del Valle Lersundi y del Valle, was Spain's minister for foreign affairs ...

Political career

Because of the electoral change in May 2004 (general elections were won by the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

), he leaves the Public Service and starts to work at the central office of the

Spanish People's Party The People's Party ( es, Partido Popular ; known mostly by its acronym, PP ) is a conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Spain. The People's Party was a 1989 re-foundation of People's Alliance (AP), a party led by former m ...

and becomes a member of its National Executive Committee. He reorganized PP structure overseas, overviewed policies on immigration and social affairs and gets elected MP in the 2008 general elections (taking office in 2011 as MP for Madrid province). He was elected again as Member of Parliament in November 20, 2011 (for Caceres province), but he resigned. He has been the National Secretary of Social Participation of the

. Since 2008 to 2012, he has also been member of the Council of Administration of

Telemadrid Telemadrid is a public regional television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telema ...

Academic activity

In addition to his professional and political career, he has developed an intellectual activity involving Spanish language and culture, specially about Asia and the Pacific. In 2012 he was appointed Secretary General of

. He stayed in office until 2018. He was elected vicepresident and then president of the European Union National Instituts for Culture

EUNIC The European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) is a network of European national institutes of culture and national bodies engaged in cultural and related activities beyond their national borders. EUNIC brings together organizations fr ...

. In february 2019 he has been appointed rector of Universitat Abat Oliba CEU, of Barcelona. In 1985 he received a research grant from the ''Foundation Juan March'', which allowed him to travel to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Thanks to this research, he wrote his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

(dissertation) on the relation between the Spanish and the Chamorro languages, which granted him a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(''summa cum laude'') in

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the Complutense University. He has written several works and the book about

chamorro language Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken ...

and contact languages in the Pacific, ''Del español al chamorro, lenguas en contacto en el Pacífico'', Madrid 2009. In 2009, an international group of scholars interested in the

Chamorro language Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken ...

founded CHiN, the Chamorro Linguistics International Network, of which he is the President.

Social activity

In 2007 he is appointed President of the Fundación Humanismo y Democracia (H+D) (Foundation Humanism and Democracy). He is also President of the International Platform for Cooperation and Migration (IPCM), which was created in association with other European organizations.

Education

Professional career

Political career

Academic activity

Social activity

References

External links