Alex Forbess
Editorial Director
Juli Minoves Triquell greets a student into his office – displayed with pictures of him shaking hands with former President Bill Clinton and stepping behind the United Nations podium.
Minoves Triquell, who started this fall as an assistant professor of political science with a focus on comparative politics, is excited to start his new chapter at the University of La Verne.
While obtaining a bachelor’s in economics at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland in 1991, he said he had a deep interest in politics and wanted to learn how beneficial it can be for the world.
“I believe a career in politics is the noblest profession,” Minoves Triquell said. “Democracy is the best way to organize a society.”
Minoves Triquell was raised in Andorra, a country that is half the size of Rhode Island, which is located between Spain and France.
He enjoyed the diversity and small community, believing it made him feel welcomed.
“I loved the country I grew up in,” Minoves Triquell said. “With a local community, you were allowed to make friends in high school that you stayed with for the rest of your life.”
After studying abroad in Switzerland, he went back to Andorra to take on active roles to serve his country.
Minoves Triquell’s political interest grew in 1995 when he became the Andorra ambassador to the United States, the United Nations and a member of the World Federation of Liberal Parties, a non-profit organization that supports liberal parties around the world.
Minoves Triquell knew a political position on the global scale would be challenging but he was focusing on the long term.
“(Politics) is not an easy game but it is very rewarding,” Minoves Triquell said.
His greatest achievement as ambassador was negotiating with former President Clinton for Andorra and the United States to work together through the Fulbright program.
This program, which Minoves Triquell organized, develops scholarships to help students from Andorra study in the United States and vice versa. Achievements like this shine a positive light on
government, where Minoves Triquell believes most of the people around the world are starting to show distrust.
“I believe it is important to criticize politicians, but we have to remember the good they are doing to make their society better,” Minoves Triquell said.
“I believe in the public sector and there is a role in government for good.”
With some of his family members in America, Minoves Triquell was interested in how this country functions as a democracy.
“While studying U.S. politics, I admired the ‘let’s do it’ motive being displayed in both political campaigns,” Minoves Triquell said.
While he acknowledges a decline in voter participation, Minoves Triqquell admires the strengths of local governments. He said nothing represents an advanced democracy more than having representatives trying to enhance the system.
“People who think politics are bad are too prevalent,” Minoves Triquell said.
After resigning as ambassador in 2001, he went to France and was a visiting professor at the Institut D’Etudes Politiques De Paris, teaching political science.
In 2009, he attended Yale, where he obtained his doctorate in political science in 2011.
While Minoves Triquell was in Paris, ULV was searching for a new professor of comparative politics.
Professor of Political Science Richard Gelm said the department went above and beyond to find someone to fill this position.
“We did an international search which led us having more than 150 qualified applicants,” Gelm said.
Along with Minoves Triquell’s extraordinary resume, Gelm said he knew the former ambassador would be a perfect candidate ever since he taught a class in January, a test that was part of the interview.
“The students were impressed and (the department) believed he would make a great colleague,” Gelm said.
When Minoves Triquell started in August, students were interested in how he applied real-life scenarios into his teaching.
Senior international business major Erika Lozano considers his training method free-style, something that she enjoys.
“He goes beyond the text and has an active conversation with students,” Lozano said.
Minoves Triquell is thrilled about meeting his students, who share his interest in politics.
He believes that students should be engaged in this topic and be a part of something better.
“Who better to teach this subject than a former ambassador?” Gelm said.
Alex Forbess can be reach at alex.forbess@laverne.edu.
