IARU Presidents

Each IARU partner is represented by the head of the institution. Presidents meet annually to discuss specific topics of interest related to the higher education trends.

IARU Chair

The IARU Chair is elected from among the IARU Presidents for a period of 2 years. The current Chair of IARU is Dr Anthony Freeling, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.  

Past IARU Chairpersons: Professor Stephen J. Toope, 2020-2022 (University of Cambridge); Dr Makoto Gonokami, 2018-20 (University of Tokyo); Chancellor Carol Christ, 2017-18 (University of California, Berkeley); Professor Nicholas Dirks, 2017 (University of California, Berkeley); Professor Ralf Hemmingsen, 2015-16 (University of Copenhagen); Professor Ralph Eichler, 2013-14 (ETH Zurich); Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, 2009-12 (National University of Singapore); Professor Ian Chubb, 2005-08 (Australian National University).

IARU Presidents

  • AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITYProf. Brian Schmidt AC, President
  • ETH ZURICH Prof. Joël Mesot, President
  • NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE Prof. Tan Eng Chye, President
  • PEKING UNIVERSITYProf. GONG Qihuang, President
  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Prof. Carol Christ, Chancellor
  • UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGEDr Anthony Freeling, Acting Vice-Chancellor
  • UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Prof. Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor
  • UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGENProf. Dr. Henrik Caspar Wegener, Rector
  • UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Prof. Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYODr. Teruo Fujii, President
  • YALE UNIVERSITY Prof. Peter Salovey, President

  • AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

    Prof. Brian Schmidt AC, President

    Professor Schmidt is the 12th Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University (ANU). Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Professor Schmidt was an astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics before becoming Vice-Chancellor.

    Professor Schmidt received undergraduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 1989, and completed his Astronomy Master's degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University. Under his leadership, in 1998, the High-Z Supernova Search team made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, and the Royal Society, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013.

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  • ETH ZURICH

    Prof. Joël Mesot, President

    Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, took up his new responsibility on 1 January 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served for more than 10 years as the Director of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the largest publicly funded research institute in Switzerland. In addition, Dr. Mesot has been a full professor in physics, both at ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne. Since July 2010, he has also served as a member of the ETH Board.

    Dr. Mesot studied physics at ETH Zurich and earned his doctoral degree in the field of solid state physics using neutron scattering, both at ETH and the Institute Laue-Langevin (France). Following his first position at the PSI, he spent several years at the Argonne National Laboratory in the USA, where he specialized in synchrotron techniques. In 1999, he returned to Switzerland to head the ETH and PSI’s joint laboratory for neutron scattering.

    For his scientific achievements, Dr. Mesot has received several awards, among which the Swiss Physical Society’s IBM Award in 1995 and ETH Zurich’s Latsis Prize for excellence in research in 2002. He is member of several national and international advisory boards, among them the Swiss Innovation Park’s Foundation Board and the Senate of the Helmholtz Association, Germany.

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  • NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

    Prof. Tan Eng Chye, President

    Professor Tan Eng Chye is the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) 5th President and he will be the 23rd leader to head Singapore’s oldest higher education institution, which traces its roots to a modest medical school founded in 1905.

    Prof Tan obtained his Bachelor in Mathematics at NUS and his PhD at Yale University. He joined NUS as a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics in 1985. Prof Tan's research interests are in the Representation Theory of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, and Invariant Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics.

    Prof Tan was a pioneer architect of the current academic system in NUS, and has seeded many initiatives such as the Special Programme in Science, University Scholars Programme, University Town Residential College Programme, Grade-free Scheme, Technology-enhanced Education, etc.

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  • PEKING UNIVERSITY

    Prof. GONG Qihuang, President

    Professor Gong Qihuang serves as President of Peking University, the Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Peking University. He is also the Dean of the Graduate School of Peking University. He is the Cheung Kong Professor of Physics and Boya Chair Professor of Peking University, as well as the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and fellow of the World Academy of Sciences.

    He served as Vice Dean of the School of Physics, Deputy Director of the Development and Planning Department, Executive Vice Dean of the Graduate School, Provost, Vice President, and Executive Vice President of Peking University.

    He served as the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics at Peking University (April 2001–March 2017), and he is the Director of the Academic Committee (March 2017 - Present). He was elected as a fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK (2007), the Optical Society of America (2010) and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (2018), a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013) and a fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (2018).

    Professor Gong is Vice President of the International Commission for Optics, Standing Committee member of the China Association for Science and Technology and Vice Chair of the Beijing Association for Science and Technology. He also serves as the President of Chinese Optical Society, Vice President of Chinese Physical Society and Vice President of the Chinese Society of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education.

  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

    Prof. Carol Christ, Chancellor

    Carol Tecla Christ began her term as the 11th chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley on July 1, 2017. A celebrated scholar of Victorian literature, Christ is also well known as an advocate for quality, accessible public higher education, a proponent of the value of a broad education in the liberal arts and sciences, and a champion of women’s issues and diversity on college campuses.

    Christ spent more than three decades as a professor and administrator at UC Berkeley before serving as president of Smith College, one of the country’s most distinguished liberal arts colleges, from 2002 to 2013. She returned to Berkeley in January 2015 to direct the campus’s Center for Studies in Higher Education, and was appointed interim executive vice chancellor and provost in April 2016 before being named chancellor in March 2017. Since returning to Berkeley, Christ has played an instrumental role in efforts to stabilize the institution’s budget, confront sexual violence and sexual harassment on campus, create a long-term plan for housing students and scholars, and more.

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  • UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

    Dr Anthony Freeling, Acting Vice-Chancellor

    Dr Anthony Freeling became Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge on 1 October 2022.

    Dr Freeling studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, between 1975 and 1984, completing an MA in Mathematics, an MPhil in Control Engineering and Operation Research, and a PhD in Decision Analysis and Behavioural Economics.

    He was President of Hughes Hall from 2014 to July 2022, having initially become involved with the College as a Fellow and Trustee in 2008. As a member of the University Council and Chair of the Colleges Committee, he has extensive experience of the operation of the Collegiate University. Prior to resuming his long relationship with Cambridge, Dr Freeling spent 18 years with McKinsey & Company, where he was a senior partner, leading its marketing and sales practice across Europe. He has also worked as an independent consultant advising a broad range of companies in areas as diverse as law and global marketing. He was a director of Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, and research director of the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils for Europe and Asia. He was formerly on the Council of the Open University and on the Board of UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.

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  • UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

    Prof. Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor

    Professor Phakeng, a B1 rated scientist, is a recognisable name in higher education in South Africa. She obtained her junior degree, majoring in pure mathematics, at the then University of Bophuthatswana (now North-West University) in Mmabatho in 1987, obtaining a solid 74% for her final-year pure mathematics module. She completed all her postgraduate studies, which ended with a PhD in 2002, at Wits University where she also served for five years as President of Convocation (2011-2016).

    Her first job was in 1988 as a mathematics lecturer at Hebron College of Education. Over the years she served as principal, teacher, and mathematics subject advisor before venturing into the nongovernmental sector for five years, running mathematics development programmes for teachers and learners in township and farm schools in West Rand. She also ran empowerment programmes for women in the rural villages of Matamanyane and Lenyenye in Limpopo.

    Professor Phakeng’s academic career started at Wits, where she first served as a research assistant in 1996 and later left in December 2007 as an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education as well as Founding Director of the award-winning Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science Education. In January 2008 she took up the position of Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) at the University of South Africa8. She had a very successful tenure as Dean of CSET at UNISA and was promoted to serve as Vice-Principal of the newly established portfolio of Research and Innovation on 1 July 2011. When her five-year term ended in June 2016, she joined UCT as DVC for Research and Internationalisation.

    As a highly regarded scholar, Professor Phakeng has been invited to deliver over 40 keynote lectures at international conferences and as visiting professor at universities around the world. Her commitment to academia and research extends beyond her own advancement. In 2016 she was appointed by the then Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa standing committee on Mathematics and Science.

    Professor Phakeng is a member of a number of boards, including the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls; the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation; and the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education. She is also a trustee of the FirstRand Foundation. She has chaired the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Research, Development and Innovation Committee (until September 2017), and served as National President of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa from 2002 to 2006. Her other previous roles include chairperson of the Board of the South African Mathematics Foundation from 2005 to 2006; secretary and member of the executive committee of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education from 2003 to 2007 and the CSIR from 2015 to 2017.

    Professor Phakeng is also the founder of the Adopt-a-learner Foundation, a non-profit organisation that started in 2004 and provides financial and educational support to students from township and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications.

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  • UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN

    Prof. Dr. Henrik Caspar Wegener, Rector

    Henrik C. Wegener had been rector at the University of Copenhagen since March 2017. He is an expert on food safety, zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases. He has served as advisor to national and international authorities and governments, international organizations and private companies, and universities and research foundations, and he has served, and is presently serving, on several national and international committees and boards on food safety, veterinary public health, and research policy. Most recently Professor Wegener was appointed Chair of the High Level Group of the EC Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM).

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  • UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

    Prof. Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor

    Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey CBE FMedSci. led Merton College from 2019-22 and is also Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, a department she led for several years. She was tenured in 2001 to the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics with Tutorial Fellowship in Medicine at Christ Church. Additionally, she held the Nuffield Chair in Anaesthetic Sciences for 12 years with a Fellowship at Pembroke College.

    She is also President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS). Professor Tracey's research on the neuroscience of pain has contributed to a better understanding of pain perception and its relief in the human brain. She has also used neuroimaging to better understand anaesthesia-induced altered states of consciousness. Irene has served and continues to serve academia through her election to the Councils of the International Association for the Study of Pain, British Neuroscience Association, and Medical Research Council. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Medical Research by Her Majesty The Queen in 2022. Professor Tracey completed her undergraduate degree and doctorate at Merton College, Oxford, in biochemistry; her doctoral work focused on early use of magnetic resonance imaging methods to study disease mechanisms.

    Professor Tracey held a postdoctoral position at Harvard Medical School, working at the Martinos Centre for Biomedical Imaging, before returning to Oxford in 1997, when she became a founding member and then Director for ten years of the world-leading institution now known as the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging. She has won many academic and international prizes throughout her career. Professor Tracey is married to Professor Myles Allen and they have three children.

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  • THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

    Dr. Teruo Fujii, President

    Dr. Teruo Fujii became the 31th President of the University of Tokyo on April 1, 2021, with a six-year term. He was previously Executive Vice President in charge of finance and external relations for the university. He also served as Director General of Institute of Industrial Sciences (IIS) of the university from 2015 to 2018. He received his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Tokyo (1993) and after joining RIKEN Institute became an associate professor (1999) and professor (2007) of IIS.

    Dr. Fujii was also an advisor to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) from 2005 to 2008 and Co-director of LIMMS-CNRS/IIS, a joint research lab between CNRS, France, and IIS, from 2007 to 2014. He served as the President of Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS) and organized its MicroTAS conference held in Okinawa in 2012.

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  • YALE UNIVERSITY

    Prof. Peter Salovey, President

    Peter Salovey is the 23rd president of Yale University and the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology. He began his tenure in July 2013. After receiving an A.B. (psychology) and A.M. (sociology) from Stanford University in 1980 with departmental honors and university distinction, Salovey earned three degrees at Yale in psychology: an M.S. (1983), M.Phil. (1984), and Ph.D. (1986). He holds secondary faculty appointments in the Schools of Management and Public Health, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and the Sociology Department.

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