Title
Former Secretary General
Institution / Organization
International Association of Universities (IAU)
Bio
Eva Egron-Polak, former Secretary General of the International Association of Univeristies (IAU), she was educated in the Czech Republic, Canada and France. Having studied French Literature, Political Science and International Political Economy, her post-graduate research focused on early stages of European Union policy in higher education. For almost 20 years she served in various senior positions at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) prior to becoming the Secretary-General of IAU in 2002. Her last position at AUCC was as Vice-President, International. As Secretary-General of IAU, an independent, global association of universities and associations of higher education institutions based at UNESCO in Paris, France, Eva Egron-Polak is engaged with many of the most pressing policy issues in higher education – internationalization of higher education and intercultural learning, quality of cross-border higher education, provision of equitable access to and success in higher education, changing nature of institutional autonomy and the contribution of higher education to sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals, among others. Since her appointment at IAU, she has focused on expanding the Association’s convening role, consolidating the Association’s capacity as a clearing house of information on the systems and institutions of higher education around the world. Under her leadership IAU launched regular and systematic global surveys on internationalization, created a LEADHER grants programme for professional development and North-South and South-South collaboration and developed an advisory service to review and assess institutional internationalization strategies using expert Panels from around the world. Eva Egron-Polak is a member of many boards and steering committees at UNESCO, the European Commission, OECD and others. She has written and presented many papers on higher education topics and has expanded IAU partnerships to include many new organizations and networks.
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