Class V (2007-2008)

Sponsor Club: Pelotas Norte, District 4680, Brazil

Cássio Furtado, 29, holds a Master of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the Global Studies Programme of the University of Freiburg, Germany, and undergraduate degrees in International Studies, Journalism and Political Science from the University of Kansas, U.S.A. Cássio’s university career began when he was 16 and became the youngest student to be admitted to Law School in Southern Brazil, his native country. Since then, he has conducted studies or research at universities in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, South Africa and the United States, and, as a journalist, he has worked as a reporter for newspapers such as The Miami Herald, The Tampa Tribune and Knight Ridder, all in the United States.

As a journalist, he interviewed four world presidents, covered the September 11 attacks in Washington DC and, in 2002, uncovered a fraud at the U.S. Embassy in Qatar. Cássio worked, in 2005, as a press aide at the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations. When the agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that year, he gave interviews on behalf of the IAEA in Portuguese and Spanish. In 2006, he was recognized by the IAEA for his contribution at the agency. That same year, Cássio created a lecture series to teach teenage Brazilians about the world around them. He lectured to capacity crowds across Southern Brazil. In 2007, he participated in meetings at the Club of Madrid, Spain, that will lead to a series of recommendations on how to address issues of social cohesion in societies across the globe.

He has extensive public speaking experience, having taught at the university level, and has worked as a political commentator for radio and television. Cássio currently writes a column on geopolitics for a Brazilian newspaper and works as the main international commentator for a news radio station in Southern Brazil, where he has two weekly commentaries on international issues.