The General Assembly of the European University Association (EUA) elected on Thursday, 16 April 2015 Rolf Tarrach as its new President. The General Assembly, representing more than 300 EUA members, gathered at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, where it also elected five new Board members.

Physics Professor Rolf Tarrach was the sole candidate standing for president and will officially take over from Professor Maria Helena Nazaré in July 2015. He was rector of the trilingual University of Luxembourg until 2014 – a position he held for 10 years – and was professor of theoretical physics at the Universities of Valencia and Barcelona. He was Dean of the School of Physics and Vice-Rector of the University of Barcelona, as well as the former president of CSIC Madrid (the Spanish Scientific Research Council).

University of Luxembourg President Rainer Klump, who followed in the steps of Rolf Tarrach, said: "Rolf Tarrach brings the best experience for this new post. His election is not only a recognition of his achievements in building the University of Luxembourg but also an award for our University".

Outgoing EUA President Maria Helena Nazaré said: “I would like to wish great success to Rolf Tarrach and the new Board that has been elected here in Antwerp. It has been a privilege to work together with Europe’s universities. The challenges currently faced by the university sector call for ever closer collaboration and exchange, at national, European and global level. I hope that universities will continue to foster such cooperation and work together – both to overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities facing our continent. [...] It was a great personal learning experience and I would like to thank the EUA secretariat for all their support”.

President-elect of EUA Rolf Tarrach said: “It’s a real privilege to be elected President of EUA and represent 850 universities across Europe. I’d like to thank the outgoing President and the Board for their tireless efforts and continued commitment to the European education sector and I look forward to working with colleagues across Europe when I take over as President in July.”

Five new EUA board members elected

The EUA General Assembly elected five EUA Board members who will serve for a period of four years (2015 – 2019). They are:

• Wieslaw Banyś, Rector of the University of Silesia in Katowice and President of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland.;
• Holger Burckhart, Rector of the University of Siegen, Germany;
• Jean Chambaz, President of Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6), France;
• Martine Rahier, Rector of the University of Neuchâtel and President of Swiss Universities;
• Mari Sundli Tveit, Rector of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

The elected candidates will join current Board members: Gülay Doğu Barbarosoğlu, Rector of Boğaziçi University, Turkey, David Drewry, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Hull, England, and Stefano Paleari, Rector of the University of Bergamo, Italy.

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