María Iraburu new rector of the University

The Chancellor, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz has appointed Professor María Iraburu Elizalde as the new rector of the University of Navarra, replacing Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, who had been rector since September 2012.

She is scheduled to take office in January 2022. Professor Iraburu is the ninth person to hold this position at position in the nearly seventy-year history of the University of Navarra.

María Iraburu (Pamplona, 1964) was Vice President of academic staff since 2012. She has been a member of the boards of the faculties of Medicine and Science, and in 2005 she joined Office of the Executive Council as Vice President Alumni. During the 2018-19 academic year he completed the Senior Management Program (PADE) at IESE of the University of Navarra. In 2020 he joined the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America.

A biologist from the University of Navarra, she defended her doctoral dissertation at the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1992 and between 1993 and 1996 she did a post-doctoral stay at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. In 1996 he joined the University. Since then, she has combined her research career with teaching and university administration. She has been principal investigator of 7 research projects and has supervised 8 doctoral theses. Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, she has taught in the faculties of Medicine and Science. She currently teaches Structural and Functional Biochemistry and Biosynthesis of Macromolecules and their regulation at Degree at Biochemistry.

In her first words, María Iraburu acknowledged the work of Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero: "I think I am speaking for all of us in expressing our gratitude to him for his leadership in such complex times. His years as President, in which we have not lacked difficulties, are a solid foundation on which to face the future with hope".

He also addressed the professors, students, professionals and alumni , expressing his confidence "in the professional and human quality of all those who form part of the University. Everyone brings their talent, their vision, their commitment to a job well done. We are all necessary for this adventure to continue, for the new and the unexpected to emerge, for the University of Navarra to continue to surprise us over the years".

The Chancellor, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, thanked Professor María Iraburu "for her willingness to assume this new responsibility and face a new stage of the institution, full of challenges in research and teaching". He also thanked Professor Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero "for the years dedicated to the service of the University as President, marked by his optimistic spirit and magnanimous disposition".

For his part, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero thanked everyone for their collaboration during his term of office as President. "I have felt continually supported by all those who make up the University of Navarra. Thanks to that support, especially that of my colleagues at Office of the Executive Council, we have been able to promote great projects, face some adversities and provide the university service that society expects of us." He also expressed his gratitude for the good relationship with the different governments, institutions and companies. "One of the reasons for greatest satisfaction is the growing number of friends the University has," he added, while expressing his confidence "in the qualities of Professor Iraburu to lead the University in this new stage."

Professor Sánchez-Tabernero will continue his teaching and research work at School of Communication at the University of Navarra.