Portuguese President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva met with University President John Hennessy during his visit to Stanford Monday, as part of the first trip by a Portuguese president to Silicon Valley in two decades. Cavaco Silva and his wife toured Memorial Church and attended a lunch in their honor at the Hoover Institute.

Cavaco Silva’s visit was hosted by the Center for Global Business and Economy in the Graduate School of Business (GSB). The president spoke Monday in a question-and-answer session at Encina Hall moderated by Garth Saloner, dean of the GSB.

Prior to visiting Stanford, Cavaco Silva attended evening Mass at San Jose’s Five Wounds Portuguese National Church, a fundraiser for Portuguese charities and meetings with valley representatives in business, finance and education. The president used his visit as an opportunity to encourage closer ties between Portuguese institutions and those in Silicon Valley, particularly in light of the European debt crisis and the current political situations in Greece and Italy.

During the first leg of his United States trip, Cavaco Silva met with President Barack Obama.

– Margaret Rawson