Paul Boyle is Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University (Prifysgol Abertawe), United Kingdom. He was first elected to the EUA Board in 2017 and re-elected in 2021. He also chairs the Association’s Research and Innovation Strategy Group (RISG) and is a Steering Group member of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.

Professor Boyle was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University in 2019, having previously served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester. His former roles also include Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK’s largest funding agency for social science research; the International Champion of Research Councils UK, with responsibility for international strategy on behalf of all seven UK research councils; and President of Science Europe, which represents European funding agencies.

Professor is Chair of Universities Wales’ Research and Innovation Network; a Board Member of Universities UK, which provides leadership and support to the executive heads of 140 UK universities, as well as Chair of their Research Policy Network; and Chair of Jisc, a not-for-profit organisation providing digital services and solutions to the UK’s higher and further education sector. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences and the Learned Society of Wales.

Term of office: 2021-2025

Ivanka Popović is former Rector of the University of Belgrade (Универзитет у Београду), Serbia (2018-2021). She was elected to the EUA Board in 2021, and currently chairs the Association’s Task Force on Ukraine.

Prior to her term as rector, Professor Popović served as Vice-Rector for Research (2012-2015) and Vice-Rector for International and Inter-University Cooperation (2015-2018) at the University of Belgrade. She also previously presided the Serbian Rectors’ Conference (2018-2021), the Danube Rectors’ Conference and the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans. She is currently Honorary President of the Danube Rectors Conference.

Professor Popović studied at the University of Maryland (USA) and at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (FTM) of the University of Belgrade. She holds a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the latter.

Having joined the staff of the Faculty of Metallurgy in 1983, Professor Popović later became a full professor and went on to serve as the faculty’s first female dean (2006-2012). Her research interests are polymer science and engineering, as well as sustainable development. She has headed several national and regional basic research projects. She is an United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) national expert for Cleaner Production.

Professor Popović has been engaged in several working groups for the development of strategic documents regarding higher education and research in the Republic of Serbia. In addition, she was the first female President of the Serbian Chemical Society (2009-2013), President of the Association of Italian and Serbian Scientists and Scholars (2012-2020) and a member of the Executive Board of the European Chemical Society (2013-2017). 

Term of office: 2021-2025

Vincent Blondel is Rector of the University of Louvain (Université catholique de Louvain - UCLouvain), Belgium. He was elected to the EUA Board in 2023.

Having served as Rector since 2014, Professor Blondel has notably focused on internationalisation, digital development, staff and student inclusion and support and sustainable development, as well as intensifying partnerships with sister university KU Leuven.

Professor Blondel is a member of the board of the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS) in Belgium, of which he was formerly the President. At European level, he served Chair of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities from 2017 to 2022. He was also instrumental in the creation of Circle U., a European university alliance, which he currently presides.

Professor Blondel holds degrees in philosophy, engineering, and mathematics from the University of Louvain and Imperial College London. His research is at the interface of mathematics and information technology. He holds postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford University (UK), the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (France) He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematic (SIAM), a member of Academia Europeae and the Belgian Royal Academy of Science.

Term of office: 2023-2027

Anne Lequy is former Rector of Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal), Germany. Upon her appointment in 2014, she was the first woman to hold this position. She was re-elected in 2018 for a second term. She was elected to the EUA Board in 2021 and serves as Chair of the Association’s Learning & Teaching Steering Committee.

She has been Professor of Specialised Communications in French (technical translation) at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences since 2006. Her research focuses on computer supported translation teaching and corpus analysis.

As Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching (2010-2014), Professor Lequy was responsible for the (re)accreditation and development of study programmes, as well as for quality management in teaching and internationalisation.

From 2017-2022, Professor Lequy was project manager at the German Jordanian University (GJU). She has been a member of the Advisory Board of CHE Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung gGmbH, and a Council member of the Franco-German University. She served as member of the Standing Committee for Organisation and Governance of the German Rectors’ Conference (2018-2022) and since 2016, has been a member of Brandenburg State University Council.

Born in France, Professor Lequy studied German as a Foreign Language as well as English Language and Literature. She holds a joint Franco-German doctorate from the Universities of Metz and Leipzig.

Professor Lequy is Ambassador for Democracy, State Programme for Democracy, Diversity and Cosmopolitanism of Saxony-Anhalt as well as Ambassador for Equality of the Saxony-Anhalt State Women's Council.

Term of office: 2021-2025

Prof. Dr. Anne Lequy, h2.de

Marcin Pałys is former Rector of the University of Warsaw (Uniwersytet Warszawski), where he served two terms (2012-2020). He was elected to the EUA Board in 2019 and re-elected for the second term in 2023.

Previously, Professor Pałys served as Vice-Rector for Development and Financial Policy at the University of Warsaw from 2008 to 2012. In this role, he facilitated the university’s strategic planning and initiatives and responsible for budgetary policy.

At national level, Professor Pałys has chaired the Organisation and Legislation Committee of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP) and has been a member of the Conference’s Committee on Strategic Problems of Higher Education. Since 2022 he chairs General Council for Science and Higher Education in Poland, an independent advisory body to public authorities, elected by academic and research communities.

He has actively contributed to various EUA initiatives, notably as part of the Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) Expert Group and the Association’s work on topics such as university autonomy. During the EUA Board 2019-2023 term he was primarily involved in activities related to Innovation, Open Science and Open Access, Reform of Research Assessment and also in review of EUA statutes.

Since 2020 Professor Pałys also serves, on behalf of EUA, as a member of the Governing Council of Magna Charta Observatory.

Professor Pałys is a graduate of the University of Warsaw and holds a doctorate from the University of Twente. He became a professor in 2010. His field of expertise covers inorganic and physical chemistry, in particular: transport phenomena in electrochemical systems, chemical process modelling and supramolecular systems.

Term of office: 2023-2027

Astrid Söderbergh Widding is Rector of Stockholm University (Stockholms universitet), Sweden. She has served in this role since 2013 and was elected to the EUA Board in 2023. She is also a member of EUA’s Research and Innovation Strategy Group.

Professor Widding has previously held several leadership positions at Stockholm University, such as Vice-Rector for Humanities and Social Sciences. She has been Professor of Cinema Studies at the university since 2000.

Formerly, she was Chair of the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) from 2019 to 2022. She currently chairs SUHF’s Library collaboration consortium and Open Science group. She was one of the founding members of NECS (European Network for Cinema and Media Studies) and its journal NECSUS, as well as the founder of the open access Journal of Aesthetics and Culture.

Professor Widding obtained her doctorate from Stockholm University in 1992. Her research has largely been devoted to aesthetics and visual studies.

In addition, Professor Widding is Vice-President of the Magna Charta Observatory General Council and serves on the Board of Aarhus University, Denmark. Previously, she has served as Chair of the Principals’ Council of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and as a member of the Swedish Government’s Research Expert Group, alongside work with organisations such as the Academy of Finland, the Norwegian Research Council, the Danish Accreditation Institution and the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.

Term of office: 2023-2027

Maurizio Tira is former Rector of the University of Bresica (Università degli Studi di Brescia), Italy. He was elected to the EUA Board in 2023.

In addition to his term as Rector (2016-2022), Professor Tira was as a member of the Board of the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) from 2020 to 2022. As CRUI’s Delegate for International Affairs during this period, he represented the Conference on the EUA Council. In this capacity, he also coordinated several activities in response to the Covid- 19 pandemic, as well as to crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

An environmental engineer by training, Professor Tira has been a Full Professor of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Brescia since 2001.

With a particular interest in sustainability and social justice, Professor Tira has developed extensive experience in leading cooperation projects in this field. He has advised national ministries in Italy and France, as well as local authorities and private companies. He is currently a member of the European Commission's Expert Group on Urban Mobility, where he co-leads the sub-group on ‘Active mobility and safety of vulnerable road users’.

Since June 2022, Professor Tira has been actively involved in the European Network of Innovative Higher Education Institutions (ENIHEI). He is currently collaborating with the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research to design the new strategy for the internationalisation of the Italian higher education system.

Professor Tira is President of “GARR, the ultra-broadband network dedicated to the Italian research and education community”, member of Géant. He is also member of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute and the Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Brescia and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, since December 2020.

Term of office: 2023-2027

Wim van de Donk is Rector Magnificus and President of Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He was elected to the EUA Board in 2023. He is a full professor of Public Administration.

Prior to his appointment as Rector in 2020, Professor van de Donk served as the King’s Commissioner in the Province of Noord-Brabant from 2009 to 2020. Previously (2004-2009), he served as Chair of the Scientific Council for Government Policy in the Hague (WRR.NL) and as a Full Professor at Tilburg University’s School for Politics and Public Administration. He has also served in the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the Expertise Centre for Government Informatics in The Hague.

Professor Van de Donk has served as chair or a member of several advisory committees, for instance on the Good Governance Code of Charities (2007); the core values of the constitutional state (2008); the Social Sciences Council of the Netherlands Academy of Arts Sciences (2005-2010) and the Social Security Office (2011-2013). He was President of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA Brussels) (2010-2013). From 2016 to 2017, he chaired the Evaluation Committee of Performance-based Funding Higher Education. As of 2018, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Dutch Research Council (NWO), He also serves in highly innovative regional consortia such as Brainport, Midpoint, and MindLabs for Artificial Intelligence education.

As Brabant’s King’s Commissioner, he also was president of the board of the House of the Dutch provinces in Brussels and president of the Dutch Delegation in the European Committee of the Regions.

Professor van de Donk holds a doctorate from Tilburg University (cum laude) and a Master’s in Political Science and Administrative Science from the Radboud University.

Term of office: 2023-2027

Prof. Wim van de Donk | Tilburg University