Livia Lopes
Director of the Oliveira Lima Library
Director of the Oliveira Lima Library Livia Lopes graduated from the Rio de Janeiro State University's Law School (Brazil) with J.D. and M.A. (summa cum laude) degrees. She also attended the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and the University of Salamanca (Spain) as a visiting student with academic distinction; the Ohio State University (USA), and Georgetown University (USA) as a visiting researcher. Before joining Catholic University, Livia served as an Assistant Director and Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, affiliated with the Brazil/Latin American Program. She joined Catholic University in 2020 to lead the Latin American and Iberian Initiatives in the Office of Global Strategies. OGS advances academic programs, projects, and partnerships related to Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Livia Lopes is a Brasilianista, a researcher on Latin American and Brazilian studies, with concentrations in law, politics, and public policy.
Duilia de Mello
Executive Director
Dr. de Mello is an extragalactic astronomer and an ordinary professor of Physics. She is the Vice Provost for Global Strategies and is responsible for overseeing the University's international programs and initiatives, increasing the international presence of The Catholic University of America as a research institution, and supporting initiatives that engage faculty and students in experiences in research, teaching, and learning throughout the world. She oversaw all libraries of the Catholic University from 2016 to 2022 and is currently the Executive Director of the Oliveira Lima Library.
Dr. de Mello is the recipient of the Professional of the Year Award of the Brazil Diaspora in 2013. She was named one of the most influential Brazilians by Epoca magazine in 2014. She is listed as one of the 50 Brazilians over 50 by Forbes Magazine in 2022. She received the Order of Rio Branco in 2022 and the University of Sao Paulo Alumni Award in Science and Technology in 2023.
Caroline Zuniga
Administrative Assistant
Caroline Zuniga is the Administrative Assistant at the Oliveira Lima Library. She graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Luso-Brazilian Language and Culture from the University of Pittsburgh. Due to her father’s diplomatic postings growing up, she lived in Brazil for five years where she learned to speak Portuguese fluently. After graduating, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member from June 2022 - June 2023 before joining the team at the Oliveira Lima Library in July of 2023.
Alexia Menezes
Student Assistant
Alexia Menezes is a Student Worker at The Oliveira Lima Library and is pursuing a Master of Science in Leadership and Management at CUA. She was born and raised in Brazil and holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Alexia’s professional experience includes positions as a Graduate Student Worker at Mullen Library and as a Calibration Engineer at AVL South America.
Featured Visiting Scholars
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2023
Cynthia Carvalho Martins
Dr. Cynthia Carvalho Martins holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Maranhão (1994), a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Federal University of Maranhão (2000), and a Doctorate in Anthropology from the Federal Fluminense University (2008). Currently, she serves as a professor at the Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, where she has contributed significantly to the fields of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies.Dr. Martins has an extensive background in researching social movements, quilombo communities, social cartography, and the interplay between conflict and identity, particularly in the Amazon region, and has been recognized for her innovative research on the impacts of megaprojects in the Amazon and the dynamics of community traditional territories.
Silvia Ferreira
Sílvia Ferreira holds a Ph.D. degree in History in the specialty of Art, Heritage, and Restoration from the Faculty of Letters in Lisbon, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Currently, she is part of the NOVA FCSH team, where she is developing a research project dedicated to the topic: “The Legacy of Robert Chester Smith: New Perspectives for the History of Art in Portugal.” Robert C. Smith was an American scholar known for his work on Luso-Brazilian culture. During her time at the Oliveira Lima Library, Dr. Ferreira had the opportunity to study publications by Smith, his correspondence with Manoel Cardozo, a former director of the Oliveira Lima Library, and various important artworks, including "The Imperial Family of Brazil in 1831," watercolors of the Amazon River, and George Branden Willis’s depictions of Portugal.
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2024
Thiago Gonçalves Paluma Rocha
Dr. Thiago Gonçalves Paluma Rocha has an extensive background in Law that includes a Bachelor of Law degree from the Federal University of Uberlândia, a Ph.D. degree in International Law at the Universidad de Valencia, Spain, a Master's degree in Public Law at the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil, and a Specialization in Private Law at Universidade Gama Filho, Brazil.Dr. Rocha has been part of the Federal University of Uberlândia faculty since 2013, where he currently serves as a Professor at the School of Law and the Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer, besides that, he is the International Civil Procedure Research Network Coordinator, the Leader of the Research Group in International Law (GEPDI) at UFU, and a Visiting Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Chile.