August 2005: Former President of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, visits UC Irvine

On August 4th, 2005, former president of Catalonia Mr. Jordi Pujol and his wife, Mrs. Marta Ferrusola, visited the University of California, Irvine, following an invitation from Pete Balsells. The Center for the Study of Democracy at UCI hosted a luncheon in honor of Mr. Pujol at the University Club Library. After dessert, Mr. Jordi Pujol offered some remarks on the identity of Catalonia and its role in Europe, as well as on the societal and economical problems Europe is facing this century.

During his visit, Mr. Pujol unveiled a bench in Aldrich Park, at the center of the UCI campus. The bench is dedicated to Mr. Pete Balsells for his continuous support to the California-Catalonia Engineering Programs, including the Balsells Fellowship. During the event, the Association of Catalans at UCI delighted everybody with three human towers: a ‘4 de 4’ and two ‘pilars de 3’. This was the first ever human-tower performance at UCI. The group of castellers wore orange shirts with the name ‘California Kids’ embroidered on.

A reception and poster session hosted by the Henry Samueli School of Engineering in the main hall of the new CalIT2 \A0building concluded the day. Balsells fellows showcased their current research projects. Newly inaugurated UCI Chancellor Michael Drake attended the event and thanked the Catalan government, Mr. Pujol and Mr. Balsells for their continued support to research and UCI.
See our Flickr page for more pictures of the event.