Hello from the CPD team

Lecturer at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Department of International Relations and European Integration), holds a PhD in Political Sciences and he is the author of several books and articles regarding the post-communist Romanian political system and public participation. He worked as an expert or coordinator in various projects and research studies concerning public participation, increasing civic engagement, social integration of disadvantaged groups and he has conducted studies and analyses on the Romanian social and political environment.

Rector of SNSPA (The National University of Political Studies and Public Administration), Former Minister of Education (December 2012 – December 2014), President of the Board of Directors of the Romanian – US Fulbright Commission, Deputy Member of the Board of the International Association of Universities. He holds a PhD in Political Sciences and he is a Professor at the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations (SNSPA). His expertise is related to areas such as public communication, public participation and building local communities, educational management, internationalization of higher education. He has an extensive managerial and scientific research experience materialized in several books, articles published in academic journals and directing of research grants.

Political science and public communication expert, with experience since 2000 in political campaigns, elections and public communication projects. He holds a PhD at SNSPA, in the field of communication, with a thesis regarding the effects of new media on civic participation and electoral mobilization. He is one of the founders of CPD@SNSPA. He holds a BA in Political science from SNSPA since 2001. He also attended Law School classes and has followed courses at a Master in Elections and political campaigns at SNSPA.

Starting with 2000, he has worked as a political analyst. In 2005-2007 he was a program coordinator at Institutul Pro, a think-tank of MediaPro. Since 2007, he has coordinated the research activities of Multimedia Foundation. During the last 10 years, he has been involved in managing EU-funded projects focused on increasing civic participation and social inclusion. In the last years, he has specialised in analysing the impact of new media on public communication, studying the relations between social sciences and data sciences, and use of Big Data in communication and political analysis.

Associate Director of the International Center at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. He holds a PhD from the University of Georgia. His research interests consist of sustainable development theory and practice, action planning, action learning.

Rusty Brooks has a long experience of working alongside governments and NGOs in order to increase their effectiveness and transparency. Over the course of his career, he has been engaged in public administration, the enactment of economic development policies, in supporting heritage and cultural tourism. Dr. Brooks has been engaged in international development policies in countries such as Australia, the Bahamas, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, China, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Rusty Brooks is the recipient of the 2004 Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach for distinguished achievement in public service and outreach at the University of Georgia.

Former Minister of National Education and Scientific Research. He is head of the UNESCO Chair on Science and Innovation Policies at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA). He is also acting as General Director of the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (starting with 2010)

Adrian Curaj has been working as a consultant with World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, ETF and EC for studies in Tertiary Education, Science and Innovation, and Foresight. He has been actively involved as project leader or expert in many research projects, most of them in research management, higher education management and foresight, areas where he also published scientific articles and books. Two of the inventions he is co-author received gold medals at the Geneva Invention Salon 2009 and 2013.

Adrian Curaj is a member of the Romanian Association for the Club of Rome, Romanian representative in the EUI (European University Institute) High Council and fellow to the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS).

Senior Communications Consultant, President, entrePReneur Communications, LLC. Carolyn Tieger is a journalism graduate of the University of Georgia.

She has worked in political communication, both in the public and in the private sector, covering legislative issues, corporate and industry crises, litigation, and issues management. Carolyn Tieger has served in the executive branch, in the Reagan White House, in two international public relations firms and as an owner of her own business. She led the communications campaign for the successful legislative efforts that secured national class action reform and permanent normal trade relations with China. Carolyn Tiegerr is a recipient of the John Holliman Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications and a 2008 National Colby Award for Lifetime Achievement in Public Relations from Sigma Kappa sorority. She was also named PR News Public Affairs Executive of the Year in 2006 and Washington PR Woman of the Year by Washington Women in PR in 2005.

Director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research and professor in the Department of Journalism, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia.

Tudor Vlad holds a doctorate from the Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Bucharest. He also is a director of the World Free Press Institute (California ).

He has been involved in over 40 U.S. led international programs whose main goal has been to foster democracy and stability in emerging democracies by promoting freedom of speech, independent media and inter-ethnic dialog. He conducted training programs for journalists and journalism educators in Belarus, Hungary, Kenya, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine, and trained journalists and political leaders from over 20 countries.

Expert in project resource organization and management, with over 20 years of experience running projects funded by public and private sources. With a solid background in accounting and business administration, her expertise includes a profound understanding of financial reporting and strategic resource allocation as foundations for collaboration among team members and successful project completion. She is interested in monitoring evolving economic trends and is a firm supporter of the Romanian-US transatlantic partnership.

Public Communication expert with over 15 years of experience. He has been involved as an expert in several projects on social media, online press, participation and public communication. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Political Communication (SNSPA) and he is working on his PhD in Communication Sciences (SNSPA). His research interests include political communication, Russian propaganda in Eastern Europe, public participation.

Lecturer in Strategic Studies and in African Studies with the Department of International Relations and European Integration within the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration. His research interests include theories of international relations and theories of revolution. His most recent research focuses on the meanings and the interplay among four different contemporary hegemonic models. He has been involved in several projects supporting the development of civic participation in Romania.

With over 20 years of practical computer science experience and a job track history in very large organizations, Andrei holds top industry-recognized specializations and certifications in cloud architecture, data engineering, and data science, with prestigious certifications from industry leaders such as Google and Amazon. His technical expertise and skills are related to cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure), solution architecture, Big Data, and programming languages (Python with dozens of associated libraries). He maintains a keen interest in understanding evolving societal and media trends, along with a commitment to civic involvement.

Lecturer and Prorector of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Bucharest). Mr. Ghigiu was Senior Advisor to the Romanian Minister of National Education (2012-2014 and 2016).

Mihai Ghigiu holds a PhD in political science from the National School of Political and Administrative Studies and attended several training courses at École Nationale d’Administration – ENA, Paris and Universidad Complutense, Madrid. He published several articles on EU foreign policy, with focus on EU – Latin American relations, in both national and international academic journals.

Science policy expert currently working at the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI) and the UNESCO Chair on Science and Innovation Policies in Bucharest; he is a founding member of the Romanian association “Institutul de Prospectiva”. Since 2013, he holds a PhD in the field of sociology of science. Between 2015 and 2016, he served as European funds counselor of the Romanian minister of education and research. Starting with 2005, he has been involved in various national and European research projects on futures studies and R&I systems, including systemic foresight projects for the development and future of the Romanian RDI and higher education. During the last 5 years, he specialized in methodologies for measuring and reporting the Intellectual Capital of research organizations, policy analysis and Big Data analysis (network and semantic analysis).

Iulia Huiu is a political analyst and strategy implementation consultant currently based in Washington DC. Throughout more than two decades of career, her focus has been on democracy and elections, and more recently on the impact of domestic politics on foreign and defense policy. She is a PhD candidate in Political Science/International Relations at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania.

Iulia Huiu has served for six years as a diplomat in the Political Section at the Embassy of Romania to the United States, analyzing American politics and working with Congress to enhance the partnership between the two countries.

Remus Ioan Stefureac was involved in the foreign service, as a Romanian diplomat in Washington DC. He has a BA in Political Science, an MA in Governance and Institutional Development. His PhD thesis covers the Soviet Active Measures conducted against Romania. Remus Stefureac` publications include books, chapters, journal articles published in Romania and abroad, and over 250 political analysis and opinion editorials in Ziarul Financiar, Cronica Romana and Adevarul, well respected Romanian daily newspapers. Before joining the Foreign service, Remus Stefureac was a contributor for Romanian news channels as a political analyst and the founder of Inscop Research, one of the top polling company offering services for Romanian and International clients. He also coordinated a consulting company specialized in communication and public policy.