Nuno Crato is a research professor of mathematics and statistics at Cemapre, ISEG, University of Lisbon, a member of the French government’s National Education Scientific Council (CSEN), a visiting scientist at the European Commission’s JRC in Italy, and a founding member of the Lisbon Economics and Statistics of Education (LESE) meetings.

He served as president of the Portuguese Mathematical Society (2004–2010) and of Taguspark (2010–2011), and as Minister of Education and Science (2011–2015), during which he introduced reading fluency and mathematics proficiency targets, more robust curricula and assessments, compulsory English, and vocational tracks, and extended compulsory schooling from 9 to 12 years. During his tenure, dropout and grade-retention rates declined, and Portugal improved in PISA and TIMSS results, reaching and surpassing OECD averages and achieving its best results ever.

He is the author and editor of several books on education and mathematics, including Aprender (Learning), O Manual Escolar (The Textbook), and Improving a Country’s Education.