Born in Viseu in 1949, he has a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (1978). He began his career as a teacher in a secondary school in 1973 until 1982. In that same year, he assumed the position of Senior Advisor of Public Administration and in 1986 he became Member of the Governing Board of the Social Security Services in Viseu. At local government level, he was elected Mayor of Viseu from 1989 to 2013 and Chairman of the ANMP - National Association of Portuguese Municipalities - from 2002 to 2013. This position made him a representative of the ANMP at the Council of Municipalities and Regions of Europe during the same period. He was also Chairman of the Viseu PSD District Assembly from 1990 to 2013 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Municipal Water Services and Sanitation in Viseu from 1990 to 2013. Between 1995 and 2002, he was elected Member of Parliament in the VII and VIII parliamentary terms. He was also the Chairman of PSD/Viseu from 1983 to 1987, Vice-President of the PSD National Congress from 1999 to 2007 and Vice-President of the PSD/Viseu District Assembly from 1997 to 1999. He currently holds the position of President of the PSD District Assembly (since 2005) and is also President of the National Congress of the PSD since 2010. In 1994, Fernando Ruas was elected for the first meeting of the Committee of the Regions (where he stayed until 2013), making him a founding member. From 2001 to 2004, he also served as a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Fernando Ruas still held positions in other international organisations: he was President of the Permanent Bureau of the Luso-Spanish Association of Municipalities ‘A route to Europe’ between 1999 and 2000, Member of the Executive Bureau of the World Council of United Cities and Local Governments between 2006 and 2013, and President of the Foral CPLP - Forum of Local Authorities of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries - between 2009 and 2013. Fernando Ruas has received several decorations throughout his political and professional career: Gold Medal from the ‘Société Académique des Arts, Sciences et Lettres’ (Paris, France, 2009); Amicis Universitatis Mariae Curie Sklodowska Medal, Marie Curie Skłodowska University (Lublin, Poland, 2005); Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, President of the Portuguese Republic (2013); ‘Viriato de Ouro’, Viseu City Council (Viseu, Portugal, 2013).