Lucye Rafferty/The Hoya Spanish Crown Prince Felipe (SFS ’95) spoke in Riggs Library on Tuesday.
The Crown Price of Asturias of Spain Don Felipe de Borbon y Grecia (SFS ’95) returned to his alma mater Tuesday morning to meet with University President John J. DeGioia, SFS Dean Robert Gallucci, students and faculty in Riggs Library.
As an alumnus and founder of the Prince of Asturias Chair in Contemporary Spanish Studies, Prince Felipe visits Georgetown as often as he can, said Sam Barnes, former director for the BMW Center for German and European Studies. Currently the honorary chairman, the Prince does not actively take part in the yearly selection of the visiting professor, but the Prince of Asturias Chair gets “wonderful support from Prince Felipe,” Barnes said.
Prince Felipe gave a brief speech in both English and Spanish, calling Riggs Library an “inspiring place.” Revealing his warm feelings for Georgetown, Prince Felipe told the crowd, composed mainly of members of the Spanish Students’ Association, that he was pleased “to see how your studies are going and how happy I’m sure you are.”
He said he is proud to observe how well the visiting professorship is progressing. “We are sailing with good winds,” he said.
The Prince of Asturias Chair in Contemporary Spanish Studies was established in 1999. According to Barnes, this chair is part of the BMW Center for German and European Studies and has become a substantial presence at Georgetown. Leandro Prados de la Escosura is the current Prince of Asturias Distinguished Visiting Professor. This semester, his courses are A New Economic History of Modern Spain and Globalization and Growth in History.
“There have been a series of very fine holders of the chair,” he said, including last year’s Distinguished Visiting Professor in Political Science, Francisco Llera, and it remains the best-endowed of the five visiting professorships in the center, he said. The Prince of Asturias Chair is endowed by Endesa, a Spanish utility corporation.
Each year, a selection committee meets in Madrid to course through anywhere from 40 to 50 applications, according to Walsh, who was on the committee last year. The selection committee consists of three professors from Spain, chosen by the Spanish inistry of Education, and two Georgetown professors.
De la Escosura spoke highly of Prince Felipe. He described the prince as genuinely interested in international issues, well-informed and well-traveled. Prince Felipe is “a cultivated person, a product of SFS,” de la Escosura said.
According to Information Counselor to the Embassy of Spain Florentino Sotomayor, Prince Felipe was in Washington, D.C. this week to attend several business meetings and to visit Georgetown. On Monday he met with the president of Inter-American Development Bank, and with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and the president of the World Bank to discuss current economic situations. He also had lunch Tuesday at the Spanish Embassy with American leaders from several different sectors in order to exchange ideas on an institutional level.