José Manuel Ramos-Horta took office as the second President of East Timor (since independence from Indonesia) on May 20, 2007. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with fellow East Timorese Bishop Ximenes Belo for "sustained efforts to hinder the oppression of a small people. "

As a founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975 to 1999). After East Timor achieved independence in 2002, Ramos-Horta was appointed as the country's first Foreign Minister. He served in this position until his resignation on June 25, 2006, amidst political turmoil. In July 2006, he was officially sworn in as the second Prime Minister of East Timor. On February 11, 2008, Ramos-Horta was injured when he was shot during an assassination attempt.

Ramos-Horta studied Public International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law (1983) and at Antioch University where he completed an M.A. in Peace Studies (1984). He was trained in Human Rights Law at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg (1983). He attended Post-Graduate courses in American foreign policy at Columbia University(1983). He is a Senior Associate Member of the University of Oxford's St Antony's College (1987).