The President of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and former rector of the University of Basel takes over the Presidency of ALLEA for the term 2018-2021 during the General Assembly at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Professor Antonio Loprieno assumed the Presidency of the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, ALLEA (All European Academies), today at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia. He takes office for the term 2018-2021 following his election in 2017 and succeeds Professor Günter Stock (2012-2018).
Antonio Loprieno, President of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and former Rector of the University of Basel, was unanimously elected by the delegates of ALLEA Member Academies during the 18th General Assembly in Budapest on 4 September 2017. In today’s meeting, the hand-over of the Presidency took place, as well as the election of the ALLEA Board for the term 2018-2020.
In his acceptance speech, Loprieno underlined the importance of academies as interdisciplinary and independent centres of scientific excellence serving the public above politics and national entities.
“I look forward to working closely with academies across Europe to give science the prominence it deserves. In times of fiercely contested facts in the public debate, the role of academies is ever more indispensable as non-partisan institutions designed to help science and research flourish in our knowledge societies.“
Antonio Loprieno studied Egyptology, linguistics and Semitic studies at the University of Turin in Italy. In the 1980s, he taught at various European universities, including the University of Göttingen in Germany and the University of Perugia in Italy. From 1989 to 2000, he was Professor of Egyptology at the University of California Los Angeles. He served first as Professor at the University of Basel from 2000–2006 and then as Rector (2006-2015). Among other positions, he was President of the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS) from 2008–2015, and holds the Presidency of the Austrian Science Board (Österreichischer Wissenschaftsrat).