The General Assembly of CRUE-Spanish Universities has met this past May 16 in Madrid to elect its new Standing Committee.  The CRUE 2019 Medals of Honour were awarded before the election.

Vives Network and Fundación ONCE , CRUE Medal of Honour

At the  Casa de América headquarters in Madrid, the Medal of Honour has been awarded, which has been established since 2005 by CRUE-Spanish Universities to recognise personalities and institutions that stand out for their efforts in the university world, their brilliant career in academia or their contribution in the world of education.

The former rector of the Universitat de València, Professor Dr. Esteban Morcillo, presented the newly awarded  Vives Network of Universities, highlighting that it represents a community made up of half a million people and twenty-two universities.  For CRUE, the Vives Network is a paradigm of academic collaboration to promote and disseminate the Catalan language and all the scientific expressions that accompany it.

The other Medal of Honour 2019 has been awarded to the Fundación ONCE, which has been defined by the professor of the University of Granada Dr. José Soto Chica as "the spearhead in the fight against the last barrier that remains in the University: disability".  In the words of the president of CRUE, Professor Dr. Roberto Fernández, both CRUE and the Fundación ONCE share the fundamental social principle of guaranteeing equal opportunities for all citizens.

José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, new president of CRUE

In the General Assembly of CRUE held later, the rector of the University of Córdoba, Professor Dr. José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, has been elected to replace the rector of theUniversitat de Lleida, Professor Dr. Roberto Fernández, in charge of CRUE-Spanish Universities, whom the former vice-president of CRUE, Prof. Dr. Pilar Aranda, has thanked for his work and involvement as a representative of the university rectors.

Dr. Gómez Villamandos is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Professor of Comparative Pathological Anatomy.  Until now, the rector of the University of Córdoba presided over the R&D sector of CRUE.

Along with him, the new Standing Committee has been elected, made up of the rectors of the Universitat Politécnica de València and the Comillas Pontifical University in the vice-presidency and the rector of the Universitat Ramon Llull, the rector of the University of the Basque Country, the rector of the Charles III University of Madrid and the rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Mavi Mestre, new president of the Faculty Sector

The General Assembly has also elected the chairmanship of the Sectoral Commission of Faculty, which is integrated into the Expanded Standing Committee of CRUE.  These Sectors organize the coordination work of the Spanish universities developed by CRUE, and are divided by themes.

The rector of the Universitat de València, Professor Dr. Mª Vicenta Mestre, has been elected president of CRUE-Profesorado in substitution of the previous rector of the Complutense University of Madrid, Professor Dr. Carlos Andradas.  The rector of the Universitat de València thus becomes the first woman to chair a CRUE Sectorial Commission.

Mavi Mestre, rector of the Universitat de València since 2018, has a long career at the head of teaching responsibilities in previous Boards of Directors of the Universitat and has been participating in this Sectoral Commission over the last few years. She had recently joined a working group of CRUE and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities that was dealing with the challenges in terms of teachers: professional status and career, contractual figures, remuneration and assessment of merits in selection processes, among other immediate challenges.