Secretary-general (since 2012) and Secretary to the Board (since 2005). Rui Esgaio joined the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1999 as advisor to the Office of the President, becoming Director of this Office in May 2001 (until 2015).

Graduating in Economics from the Catholic University of Portugal and with a post-graduate qualifications in Development and International Cooperation and in Financial Analysis. Also made the Advanced Management Program of INSEAD in 2013.

He began his professional career under the auspices of the project “Building the Competitive Advantages of Portugal”, run by Harvard Professor Michael Porter, having also held the post of Assistant to the Secretary of State for Agro-food Production before later serving as Assistant to the Secretary of State for Agricultural Markets and Agro-food Quality.