Meet the 2020–2022 EAIE leaders

EAIE members are part of a passionate global community. The men and women driving our association believe that responsible international higher education can make the world a better place, so much so that they are willing to volunteer their time to help the EAIE achieve its mission. 

In February 2020, 130 current EAIE members put themselves forward for a variety of volunteer leadership positions. By the end of April, following three weeks of voting, 84 candidates from 22 countries were elected to 76 volunteer positions, including eight candidates who will job-share positions. Without further ado, we are thrilled to introduce you to the members of our association who will comprise the 2020–2022 EAIE Leadership as of September 2020.

The new EAIE Vice-President: Piet Van Hove

We are very pleased to welcome Piet Van Hove as the new EAIE Vice-President. Piet is Director of the International Office at the University of Antwerp and has 25 years of experience in the field under his belt. Piet has previously served in the EAIE General Council, as well as on the boards of other non-profits, including 12 years at APOPO, an organisation that trains rats to save lives by detecting landmines and tuberculosis.

Incoming Vice-President Piet Van Hove: “I'll focus on highlighting the EAIE as a trusted and responsible association committed to excellence and innovation in our field.”

Piet will work closely with incoming President Michelle Stewart, and his ambition is to emphasise the EAIE as inclusive, collaborative and successful: “I'll focus on highlighting the EAIE as a trusted and responsible association that is committed to excellence and innovation in our field."

The new Board members

The Board is the EAIE’s executive body, responsible for developing and implementing the Association’s strategy. Together with the President and Vice-President, these three newly elected individuals will be part of this core leadership group.

Anna Grönlund has previously served on the Awards and Talent Committee and the Conference Programme Committee. Anna is Head of Internationalisation and Higher Education Policy at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

Damiano Pinnacchio joins the Board from the Expert Community Cooperation for Development. He is coordinator of the International Relations Office at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy.

Michael Rosier will continue his mandate after two outstanding years serving with the outgoing Board. Michael is Director of International Education at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.

New General Council

The General Council includes 14 professionals who, together with the Immediate Past President Sabine Pendl, provide oversight for the long-term vision, budget and accounts of the Association. We are pleased to welcome 12 new faces to the General Council.

• Gabriele Abermann, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Austria
• Agnes Sarolta Fazekas, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
• Marie Heraughty, Léargas National Agency for EU Programmes, Ireland
• Sari Horn, LAB University of Applied Sciences, Finland
• Joanna Kartasiewicz, Kozminski University, Poland
• Kees Kouwenaar, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Joanna Kumpula, Tampere University, Finland
• Unni Kvernhusvik Sagberg, Diku, Norway
• Edyta Lachowicz-Santos, University of Economics in Katowice, Poland
• Agata Mannino, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy
• Stephen Orme, Navitas, the Netherlands
• Beer Schröder, Internationalisation Consultancy in Education ICE, the Netherlands
• Aisling Tiernan, Independent Education Consultant, Ireland
• Marleen van der Ven, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

New Expert Community Steering group members

Last but certainly not least, we are pleased to welcome the new Expert Community Steering group leaders, who will provide community support in 15 specialised areas, including in two newly formed groups. The Expert Community Access and Diversity will soon be known as Inclusion and Diversity. The Expert Community European Programme Management and Network Joint Programmes will combine to form Collaborative European Programmes. If you are a current EAIE member, please log in to ‘My EAIE’ to see who was elected and the number of votes per candidates.

Congratulations and best wishes to the 2020–2022 leaders! The new leaders will officially begin their term in September 2020.

A big thank you goes to all the candidates who put their names forward and demonstrated interest in serving the purpose of driving international higher education. We would also like to thank our members who took the time to vote. Your vote is your voice and it made a difference.