The Chancellor's Distinguished Fellows Series
and
The 2004-05 Peltason Lecture on Democracy

present

Prime Minister Jos� Maria Aznar

UC Irvine is very honored to host Jos� Maria Aznar as the 2004-05 Peltason Lecturer.

Jos� Mar�a Aznar was born in Madrid in 1953. He studied law at the Complutense University and since 1975 has been Inspector of State Finances.

Currently, he is the President of the Foundation for Social Studies and Analysis (FAES) and a Distinguished Scholar at Georgetown University, where, since fall 2004, he has taught various seminars on contemporary European politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School. He is the Chairman of the Partido Popular as well as of the Christian Democrat and People�s Parties International (CDI).

Mr. Aznar became President of the Spanish Government (Prime Minister) in 1996, following the electoral success of the Partido Popular. At the next elections in 2000, his party obtained an absolute majority. He continued to serve as President, but indicated that he would not serve as his party�s leader for the next elections. In 2004, he voluntarily stood down in favor of a new candidate.

Jos� Mar�a Aznar began his political career as a member of the Alianza Popular in 1979. In 1982 he was elected as a member of Parliament for �vila. He was later promoted to the post of Regional President of Alianza Popular in Castile and Le�n, and between 1987 and 1989, he served as head of the Regional Government of Castile and Le�n.

In 1989, following the re-founding of the Partido Popular, Mr. Aznar was the candidate for President of the Spanish Government for the General Elections. The following year, he was elected chairman of the party. He once again headed the list of Partido Popular candidates in 1993, 1996 and 2000. Throughout these four legislatures, he served as a member of Parliament for Madrid. Between 1989 and 1996 he was the leader of the opposition.

Mr. Aznar has written several books, including the following: Libertad y Solidaridad (1991) ("Freedom and Solidarity"), Espa�a: la segunda transici�n (1994) ("Spain: The Second Transition"), La Espa�a en que yo creo (1995) ("The Spain I Believe In") and Ocho a�os de Gobierno (2004) ("Eight Years of Government").

He is married to Ana Botella and has three children.

For additional information, please contact the Center for the Study of Democracy (949) 824-2904 or email lpercell@uci.edu.

Past Peltason Lectures have been given by Senator Edward Kennedy, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, US Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission; former US Senator Alan K. Simpson, and former US Senator Paul Simon.

PM Aznar is a guest of the Center for the Study of Democracy in the School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine and the Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series. The Center hosts the annual Peltason Lecture on Democracy that invites leading political figures to lecture on campus; the series is supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.