Porto City Council awards Medal of Merit to José Manuel Mendonça

On July 9, the date on which King Pedro IV arrived in the city of Porto in 1832, leading the liberal army, the City Council honoured a group of personalities and entities, celebrating their accomplishments and civic achievements – José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board of Directors of INESC TEC, was one of the recipients.

Each year, the Porto City Council awards several Medals – Honour of the City, Merit and Noble Services – to acknowledge people and organisations with major “merits or civic achievements”. This year, the City Council awarded 44 people, during a ceremony attended by all members of this body.

“In this ceremony, we complied with an ethical obligation to acknowledge and thank the recipients”, stated Rui Moreira, thanking “all these women, men and institutions for their invaluable contribution to what makes the city of Porto so special – its character. A character based on the sense of duty, the closeness to citizenship, the commitment to work, the entrepreneurial spirit and the will to innovate”.

The Medal of Honour of the City was awarded to maestro José Luís Borges Coelho, musicians Pedro Abrunhosa and Rui Reininho, and the band GNR. The Medal of Merit was awarded to 36 people and entities, including José Manuel Mendonça. “I’m very honoured by this acknowledgment, also due to the people and institutions of the city that have been awarded, all of them from different areas”. Since my name is essentially associated with science and innovation, it is impossible to dissociate it from the University of Porto and, above all, from INESC TEC – an institution of the city that positioned itself far beyond its borders, with many involved in the Institute’s creation and development. To all those who made this journey with me: here is my deepest appreciation”.

The Medals were presented by the Mayor, Rui Moreira, and the President of the Municipal Assembly, Sebastião Feyo de Azevedo (former Dean of the University of Porto). The ceremony has been held since 2014, on July 9, the day on which the army of D. Pedro IV entered the city, in 1832 – followed by the siege of Porto by the Absolutist troops loyal to D. Miguel, which lasted a year. The heroic resistance of the city and the Liberal troops of D. Pedro led to the triumph of the Liberal cause in Portugal; Porto was named Cidade Invicta after this historical milestone.