SPEAKERS

Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Patrick Deane became the 21st Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University on July 1, 2019. He is the former President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University, a position he held for nine years. Prior to that he served as Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen's and also held a number of academic administrative appointments at Western University and the University of Winnipeg. Dr. Deane is a Professor of English Literature, with his principal research focus being the relationship between cultural production and British politics in the first half of the Twentieth Century. He read English and Law at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, before undertaking graduate studies and receiving both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Western University. Dr. Deane was the first recipient of the John Charles Polanyi Prize for Literature in 1988, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
He is President of the Governing Council. His mandate as President started on June 13th 2021.
His mandate as Governing Council member started on March 14th, 2019 and his first mandate will expire the 13th March, 2023.

Former President, European Students' Union (ESU), Brussels
Martina Darmanin held the office of President in the European Students Union (ESU) between 2021-2022, Vice-President in 2020 and Human Rights Coordinator between 2019 - 2020. Her portfolio at ESU focused on equitable access to education, academic freedom, student agency in education governance and international cooperation on education. She is currently the Vice-President of the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) and has represented the international youth and student constituency in the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) between 2020-2022. She has been active as an elected student leader on the local level through the Malta Health Students’ Association as well as the national level through Malta’s University Student Council prior to her European engagement. Martina’s academic background is in the field of Health Sciences and holds a Master of Science degree by research in Food Studies and Environmental Health from the University of Malta. Her M.Sc. research was conducted in partnership with the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bio-economy e.V. (ATB) in Potsdam, Germany.
Her mandate as Governing Council member started on September 16th, 2022 and her first mandate will expire the 15th September, 2026

Polina Hombalevska is originally from the Northern part of Ukraine, city Chernihiv. In 2018 she entered Taras Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Colehium” to complete a bachelor degree in Computer Sciences. During her studies at the University she became an expert of National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of Ukraine in 2019. After graduation which was after the full-scale invasion of Russia on Ukraine’s territories she decided to continue studying in Ukraine and entered Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine) for her master’s degree in “Non-profit management”.
While studying, she was an active participant in various processes for developing of Ukrainian higher education area, promoting student-centered learning and helping student activists. From the 1st of July she took the position of the President of Ukrainian Association of Students – the national students’ union of Ukraine, which unites more than 150 local students’ unions of higher educational institutions all over Ukraine. Its responsibility is to represent students on the national and international levels because UAS is a full member of the European Students’ Union. Thus, she has been a delegate for the ESU Board almost for a year. 
 

Pamela Eyre Victoria R. Lira is a fresh Cum Laude graduate of Bachelor of Science in Geology at the University of the Philippines Diliman. In 2022, she received UP Diliman’s Gawad Tsanselor sa Natatanging Mag-aaral, the highest, most prestigious University award given to students who attained a high level of academic accomplishment, demonstrated good leadership, and exemplified honor and excellence in the service of the people. Pamela was also a member of various student organizations namely: UP Geological Society, UP Cwm Zena'na, Maroon FM, and currently the Storytelling Lead for the Youth Strike 4 Climate PH where she amplifies the call for “science for the people''. Asides from promoting her advocacies, she is a passionate writer of essays, fiction etc. with published journals on entrepreneurship education under her name.

Magna Charta Observatory Secretary General
David Lock has had a varied career in international higher education and university leadership.
As Director of International Projects at the UK’s Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, David was responsible for instigating and delivering projects with over 30 different countries, some at Governmental level. Projects have included major programmes for Rectors and Ministry Officials to implement national HE reform and autonomy strategies over several years and building partnerships between universities in different countries.
Until October 2007 David was the founding Registrar and Acting Chief Executive of the British University in Dubai where he structured, built and then led the University following its legal creation by the Ruler of Dubai as a not-for-profit provider of Higher Education to UK standards.
Prior to going to Dubai David was Secretary to the University of Huddersfield and Registrar and Secretary to the University of Hull in the UK for a total of 14 years. A teacher and Chartered Secretary by background, David has served on a number of international bodies and undertaken a range of consultancy assignments including international development and UK HE governance projects. He is Chairman of the Gulf Education Conference and serves on the International Advisory Committee of the British Council.
He has been appointed Secretary General of the Magna Charta Observatory in September 2014.

Former Rector, University of Warsaw, Poland
Born on December 5th, 1964, in Warsaw. Graduated in chemistry from the University of Warsaw in 1987, then earned PhD in chemistry from University of Twente (Netherlands) in 1992. followed by "habilitation" in 2005 from University of Warsaw. Since 1995 working in University of Warsaw, first as researcher, and from 2010 as professor in the Faculty of Chemistry. His scientific interest covers research on transport phenomena in electrochemical structures; modelling of chemical processes on phase boundaries; and use of AI tools in electrochemical studies. He is a member of International Society of Electrochemistry.From 2008 till 2012 served as Vice-rector of University of Warsaw (portfolio: development and financial policy). In 2012 elected Rector of the University of Warsaw for the term 2012-2016, and then re-elected for the second term (2016-2020, finished on August 31, 2020). In that period University of Warsaw designed and implemented multi-annual development plan, co-established 4EU+ European University Alliance and was awarded Polish Excellence Initiative multiannual grant.
Marcin Pałys actively participated in the work of Polish rectors conference CRASP, serving as a chair of Standing Committee on Organization and Legislation (2014-2020), and a member of CRASP Committee on Strategic Problems of Higher Education (2016-2020). Currently, as a former rector, he chairs the CRASP Group for European Networks of Universities. He also served as vice-chair (2012-2016) of the network of Polish comprehensive universities.
For a number of years he participated in activities of European University Association, in groups devoted to funding and - later - to innovation ecosystems. In 2019 he was elected as a member of the EUA Board for the term 2019-2023.His mandate as Governing Council member started on November 19th, 2020 and his first mandate will expire on November 18th, 2024.

Professor Caroline Parker is Assistant Vice Principal Values at Glasgow Caledonian University and coordinator of its successful Values project. She has a first degree in Psychology and over 25 years research experience in applied Human Factors. Her work on values and staff engagement began in 2014 prior to which she held a range of posts within the University’s Senior Management Team. 
Caroline has been an MCO Ambassador since 2018. She co-designed and co-led the successful 2017 GCU/MCO Workshop on Fundamental and Institutional Values in Practice; supported the development of the MCO Living Values support materials and has contributed to several of the MCO’s Living Values practical guides. She is in the process of co-authoring an e-book on GCU’s Values project experiences.
Since taking on leadership of GCU’s Values initiative Caroline has delivered a range of mechanisms for embedding the institutional Values including a Behaviours Framework which is now being used to underpin a wide range of organisational activities from recruitment, induction, personal development, appraisal, team development and management training. In recent years she has worked on embedding the GCU Values within the universities Staff Engagement monitoring process, Rewards and Recognition policy and Academic Career Pathway and Promotions process. 
 

Former Rector University of Neuchatel
Originally from Belgium, and mother of one, Martine Rahier holds an Engineering degree in Agronomy from the Free University of Brussels (1977). She continued her studies in the USA at the Universities of Cornell and Berkeley, and obtained a PhD in Science from the University of Basel in 1983, and “Habilitation” in Ecology from the University of Zurich in 1993.
Granted a professorship by the Swiss National Science Foundation in 1988, she became a Professor of Entomology and Animal Ecology at the University of Neuchâtel in 1994. In 2001, she founded the “Plant Survival” National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR), a network comprising more than 200 people.
In 2008, she was elected rector of the University of Neuchâtel ending in August 2016.
Martine Rahier has been a member of several national and international university committees, from appointment commissions to committees designing study programs in various universities; she has also been president and member of committees assessing research programs and projects, as well as of scientific associations. Author of numerous publications, she has also supervised a large number of doctoral theses. Martine Rahier was a member of the Rectors’ Conference of Swiss Universities (2008-2016) and president (2013-2015) of the “swissuniversities”.She is member of the German accreditation council since 2013, vice-president of European University Association since 2015, member of the council of the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria since 2017, and board member of WWF Switzerland since 2017.
Her mandate as Governing Council member started on October 18th ,2019 and her first mandate will expire on October 17th, 2023.

Chief of Section, Capacity Development and Water Family Coordination, UNESCO-IHP
Dr. Rahmah Elfithri is an environmental scientist and sustainable water resources management specialist, currently hold a post as Chief of Section for Capacity Development and Water Family Coordination (CDW) in the Division of Water Sciences (HYD), Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. She is responsible for Ecohydrology, Water Quality and Water Education related activities in UNESCO. Prior to joining UNESCO, she worked at the Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia (GWP-SEA) as Deputy Regional Coordinator (2021-2022) and at the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) within the National University of Malaysia (UKM) as Visiting Professor (2019-2021); Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow (2009-2019); Lecturer/Research Fellow (2007-2009) and has more than 15 years research and academic experience especially in the field of water, environment and sustainable development. She has published more than 300 publications in the form of journals, books/chapter in books, proceedings, etc. She is bringing a wealth of experience on ecohydrology, sustainability science, IWRM, water education and capacity development, watershed and community-based water management and multi-stakeholders’ water partnership at various levels. 
 

Ella Ritchie is a Professor of Politics and Emerita Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University UK. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Board of Lancaster University. She has had a long involvement with developing the European Higher Education Area and is currently a member of the EHEA Co-Ordination Group on Global Policy Dialogue.

Rector, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
Born in Bologna in 1973. Full professor in Agricultural Machinery and Mechanisation at the University of Bologna since 2016, Associate professor from 2010 to 2016 and researcher from 2000 to 2010. PhD in Materials Engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He is qualified to practice as an engineer and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bologna.
His research activity mainly focused on issues in designing agricultural machines and testing the reliability of agricultural tractors, in particular accelerated tests for the structural verification of such machines and their transmissions. In addition, he dealt with tillage machines, crop harvesters and machines for animal husbandry, as well as the use of biomass to produce energy.
He has coordinated national projects, acted as a scientific supervisor in numerous research agreements with companies, and authored more than 150 manuscripts, 53 of which published in journals indexed on Scopus. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Agricultural Engineering from 2014 to 2018, where he was managing editor for the 2006-2014 period; he oversaw its switch to English, its transition to open access and its indexing first in Scopus and then on the Web of Science.
At the University, he was Deputy Head of the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna from 2015 to 2018. After a single department of agriculture was established, he was the director for three years from 2018 to 2021, and was then reconfirmed in this role for the following three-year period. From 2018 to 2021, he was a member of the Academic Senate of the University of Bologna and a member of the university’s human resources committee.
He is the President of the Magna Charta Observatory.
His mandate as Governing Council member started on November 1st, 2021 and will expire on October 31st, 2027.

President, Siam University
President Emeritus, International Association of University president (IAUP)
Former Vice President, International Association of Universities (IAU)
Executive Director, ACD-University Network 

Pornchai Mongkhonvanit is the current president of Siam University. He is the Executive Director of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue University Network (ACD-UN). He is the former First Vice President and former Chair of the Higher Education for Sustainable Development Cluster of the International Association of Universities (IAU). He is also the President Emeritus of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and the former President of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand (APHEIT) under the patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Pornchai is also a former president of the Thailand Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.                        
He has been recognized as a Notable Prominent Alumnus in Education of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his postgraduate degree in finance, investment, and banking. He received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. He studied and received the degree of the National Defense College of Thailand. In addition, he participated in the Institute for Educational Management at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
Serving as President of Siam University, he provides strategic vision and leadership on Internationalization and Innovation which make Siam University become the only Private University in Thailand that has been Categorized as university that focus on Technology and Innovation by Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Currently Siam University become International hub of Education in the District with the International student body of over 1000 from more than 42 Counties. 
Recognized as an expert on higher education strategy, emphasizing sustainable relationships between universities and industry, Pornchai received the Medal of Honor from the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and Kyung Hee University, South Korea. Pornchai has also received honorary professorships from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico, and Guizhou University, China; Pornchai has been honored with the Ph.D. Honoris Causa from the Angeles University Foundation, Philippines; the University of Cordilleras, the Philippines' Women’s University; and Asia e-University in Malaysia. He has also received the distinguished alumni award from Saint Gabriel College and Kasetsart University.
 

Anna Osmolovska, PhD in Political Science, Ukraine.Until 2023 Ms. Osmolovska served as Director of the Educational and Scientific Institute for Academic Potential Development in Vasyl` Stus Donetsk National University (Vinnytsia, Ukraine) and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. 
Since 2023 she has been working as Deputy Director on a new academic project – Educational Academy “UAdvise”.
Participant of international academic mobility programs in leading universities: Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK), Central European University (Austria, Hungary), Masaryk University (Czech Republic), Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania).Coordinator of international projects supported by the International Renaissance Foundation, British Council, Fulbright Program, USAID, Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.Participant of the project "Innovative University and Leadership. Phase VI: Models of Academic Autonomy and University in the Lifelong Learning System" at the University of Warsaw (Poland) and Jagiellonian University (Poland). Author of more than 20 scientific publications, educational and methodological recommendations; developer of trainings on project management and internationalization of higher education institutions, as well as trainings for schoolchildren of EuroClubs of Ukraine.
Co-author of the world's first Ukrainian-language version of the Magna Charta Universitatum 2020.Co-author of the All-Ukrainian training program for PhD`s supervisors “Innovative scientific supervisor”.
Field of scientific and professional interests: international relations and public diplomacy, external and internal image of the state, national interests of Ukraine, internationalization of higher education, project activity, development of educational institutions.

Brendan O’Malley is a freelance journalist and editor in chief of University World News, the global higher education news and commentary platform/online publication. 
He is also an international consultant who has worked with UN agencies and INGOs on education and development issues, including the impact of conflict on education and vice versa. 
He was author of the first two global studies on violent political and military attacks on education institutions, students, teachers, academics and personnel for UNESCO (Education under Attack 2007 and 2010) and lead researcher of the third such global study (Education under Attack 2014) for the Global Coalition to Prevent Attacks on Education (GCPEA).
The reports played a role in catalysing UN agencies and INGOs to put attacks on education on their agenda and persuade the UN Security Council to give monitoring and reporting of attacks on schools a higher priority in its Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism for listing and potentially sanctioning parties to conflict who carry out violations against children in armed conflict.
He has researched in and reported from numerous conflict-affected countries and is co-author of an investigative documentary book on the impact of US and UK military interests on the Cyprus problem, The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion (IB Taurus 1999) which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and was a Guardian Book of the Year. 
He is a member of the non-partisan UK parliamentary group, Friends of Cyprus, which seeks a peaceful bicommunal settlement of the Cyprus problem and has been involved in track 2 efforts to build confidence in mutual cooperation and peace in Cyprus through education initiatives.

Ivan F. Pacheco is a Research Fellow at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College (USA). With a background in international research and consultancy, Dr. Pacheco is a renowned expert in the field of higher education policy and management, particularly in the areas of quality assurance, assessment, and higher education compliance. 
Dr. Pacheco has over 20 years of experience in higher education, policymaking/implementation, and program development/evaluation. He possesses extensive international experience and has successfully led international teams and fostered collaboration in various projects worldwide, with a particular focus on Latin America. Ivan played a pivotal role in defining a quality assurance system for higher education in Colombia, which remains in operation to this day. He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank on numerous projects in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru. Moreover, he has held positions as the Director of Quality Assurance for Higher Education at the Colombian Ministry of National Education. He is the founder and president of Qualipliance, a company dedicated to assisting higher education institutions in improving their quality assurance and compliance processes. He also serves as the editor of ESAL (Revista de Educación Superior en América Latina) a semiannual publication on Latin American higher education issues.
Dr. Pacheco holds a PhD in higher education from Boston College, master’s degrees in Higher Education administration from Boston College and Sociology of Law from the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Spain), an undergraduate degree in Law from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.
 

President of the European Council emeritus
Elected as the first full-time President of the European Council in November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy took office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009. In 2012, he was re-elected for a second (and last) term starting on 1 June 2012 and running until 30 November 2014.
At the time of his first election, Herman Van Rompuy was Prime Minister of Belgium. Prior to that he had served in Belgium as Speaker of the House of Representatives (2007-2008) and in several government positions, including as Secretary of State for Finance and Small Businesses (1988) and Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Budget (1993-1999). His is Minister of State (since 2004). 
A former economist at the National Bank of Belgium, Herman Van Rompuy began his political career in 1973 as national vice-president of his party’s youth movement. He was president of the Flemish Christian Democrats (1988-1993). He served in the Belgian Parliament, in turn as Senator (1988-1995) and Member of the House of Representatives (1995-2009).
Herman Van Rompuy holds a Bachelor in Philosophy, and a Master in Economics from the university K.U. Leuven.
He was born in Etterbeek (Brussels), on 31 October 1947, and is married with Geertrui Windels; they have four children and nine grandchildren.
He is now professor at the KU Leuven. He teached at the UC Louvain, SciencePo in Paris and the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin).
He was the President of the European Policy Centre (2015-2022). 
He is president of the Administrative Council of the College of Europe. 
King Philip granted him the noble title of count in 2015.
 

Stefanova Slobodian Diana Denisivna was born on October 5, 2002 in the city of Moscow, Russian Federation. She is a citizen of Ukraine.
In 2006, she has moved with her family to the village of Bonduri, Gaysyn district, Vinnytsia region. From 2008 to 2019, she studied at a local school there.
In 2019, Diana Stefanova entered the Uman State Pedagogical University named after Pavlo Tychyna at the faculty of preschool and special education.
In 2023, she started a master's degree at the Uman State Pedagogical University.
 

Secretary General, International Association of Universities (IAU)
Dr. Hilligje van’t Land serves the global higher education community as Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU) - global NGO with UNESCO Associate Status. For the past two decades, she has fostered the key role of higher education in societal transformation. She supervises the overall programme activities of the IAU, develops the Association’s strategic plans and oversees the everyday work of the secretariat. She positioned the IAU as partner in UNESCO work on Education for sustainable development and in the UNESCO Futures of Education initiative, and higher education as a key stakeholder for the UN Agenda 2030 – Transforming our world. Hilligje van’t Land strongly believes in the importance of international cooperation and intercultural understanding and has developed multilateral projects related higher education and beyond. Hilligje van’t Land holds a PhD in comparative francophone literature, speaks six languages and published on higher education issues of relevance locally and globally. Learn more on recent publications and conferences.
 

Christina Williams, a proud Jamaican, has numerous academic qualifications in International Relations, Policy, and Law. She currently attends the Norman Manley Law School where she is the President of their Human Rights Council. However, aside from being a student, Christina has been an active champion of education development, having served on numerous student-led bodies as well as government and international boards/task forces. She served the largest student population in the English-speaking Caribbean during the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic and her successful interventions earned her a global award alongside leaders like Greta Thunberg in 2021. She later transitioned to becoming the first female President of her country’s tertiary student union helping to produce landmark policies which helped her to attain the Princess Diana Award for 2023. Christina is also a contributing author to the Harvard University literary project : Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Politics and Representation in Higher Education which is set to be published later this year

Oksana Zamora, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Economic Relations of Sumy State University (Ukraine). She combines experience in grants-funded projects design and management, as well as in digitally enhanced education in both academic and non-governmental sectors. Ms. Zamora has contributed to the development of the Concept of the Future University of Ukraine by the Ukrainian Institute of Future, working on internationalization issues. She has participated in more than 30 training programs from Erasmus+, Youth in Action, FAP (USA), British Council, and EBRD and since 2015 has participated in a number of projects related to digital skills of youth, adults and refugees. She acts as a chair of the Advisory Board of the “Architecture for Unified Regional and Open digital ecosystems for Rural Areas Large scale application” (AURORAL) project, HORIZON 2020 Programme (2021-2025) and as a reviewer for the “Comunicar” journal (Q1 in Education and Communication in Scopus and WoS, Spain). She serves as a non-formal education trainer for NGOs and international development coach for HEIs.

Former Rector, Ilia State University, Georgia

Giga Zedania was a Rector of Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia) from 2014 to 2022. Before, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Head of the Quality Assurance Service at Ilia State University, where he has been teaching first as associate and then as full professor since 2006. He studied philosophy, sociology and cultural studies in Georgia, USA, Hungary and Germany, obtaining his PhD from Ruhr University Bochum. His publications range from European intellectual history to the socio-political transformation of the South Caucasus. He served as the President of Black Sea University Network (2016-2018).
His mandate as Governing Council member started on November 19th, 2020 and his mandate will expire on November 18th, 2024.

Prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska has been associated with the University of Lodz for 25 years. During this period, she went through all the stages of academic career – from research-technical staff member to the Full Professor. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Biology and Earth Science of the University of Lodz. In 1990 she obtained a master's degree in Biology. In 1999 she obtained a doctoral degree in Biological Sciences and in 2005 became a Doctor of Biological Sciences with habilitation. In 2014 President of the Republic of Poland awarded Elżbieta Żądzińska the title of Professor of Biological Sciences. 
Over the years 2005-2008 prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska held the position of the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection. From 2008 to 2016 she was the Dean of the Faculty and during the term of 2016-2020 she was the UL Vice-Rector for Research. Since 2020 she has been the Rector of the University of Lodz.
Prof. dr hab. Elżbieta Żądzińska is the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Organismal Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) for the term 2020-2023, a member of the Commission on Anthropology of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the President of the Science Committee President of The Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP). Since 2014 prof. Żądzińska has been the Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at School of Medical Sciences University of Adelaide in Australia. In 2008 she was a laureate of NOVUM programme implemented by the Foundation for Polish Science.  
Her main research areas include human biology of contemporary and historical populations, determinants of population stress (secondary sex ratio index, fluctuating asymmetry, abnormal weight-growth ratios) and odontology.