Ricardo Galvão was born in Itajubá, Brazil, in 1947. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Fluminense Federal University (1969), a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the State University of Campinas (1972), a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1976), and a “Livre Docente” Degree in Experimental Physics from the University of São Paulo (1983). He is a full professor of applied physics at the University of São Paulo, having previously held the positions of Director of the Brazilian Center for Physics Research (2004-2011), President of the Brazilian Physics Society (2013-2016), and Director of the National Institute for Space Research (2016-2019).

He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and was bestowed the Sandoval Vallarta Physics Prize by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy (1984), the Distinguished Physics Teacher Award by the University of São Paulo (1992), the Carneiro Felippe Medal by the Brazilian National Commission for Nuclear Energy (2015), accolated by Nature one of the ten people who mattered in science in 2019, received the 2021 AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility and the “Grã-Cruz” of the National Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil (2023). He is currently President of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.