President of the Champalimaud Foundation since 2004, personally selected by founder António Champalimaud, she has a law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon, where she was Assistant Professor. She has held various political positions. She was the second woman in the country to serve as a minister, acting as Minister of Health in the Cavaco Silva governments (1985–1990), in addition to serving as Secretary of State for Social Security (1983–1985) and holding the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (1982–1983).Founder of the PSD, a party in which she has held various leadership positions, she was a Member of Parliament between 1983 and 2005 and twice served as Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic. She was present at the founding of the Commission on the Status of Women, now the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality. She was one of the pioneering members of SEDES, one of the oldest national civic associations. She is a member of the Council of State and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator by the President of the Republic. She was born in Porto.