Annual Conference Chair, HUMANE President and Director General

Leon van de Zande

Annual Conference Chair; Secretary General, University of Amsterdam, NL

Leon van de Zande is Secretary General and head of administration of the University of Amsterdam since November 2023.

He is secretary to the Executive Board and responsible for the professional services in the university.

He obtained a degree in Dutch Language and Literature at Utrecht University and has been working at that university since 1995 in different positions: since 2009 as director of the Academic Affairs Office and Student Services and between 2016 and 2022 as Secretary General.

Alex Pellacani

President of HUMANE; Director General, University of Trento, IT

Alex Pellacani graduated in Economics in 1995, is certified chartered accountant since 2000 and has been appointed as member of the Board of HUMANE in June 2022.

He is currently the Managing Director of the University of Trento, a role he was appointed to in 2016. The University of Trento counts around 16,000 students, close to 1.600 employees, about equally divided in academic and non academic staff.

As Managing Director, he is responsible for the implementation of the strategies and objectives defined by the governing bodies of the University. He has the overall responsibility for the management and organisation of the support services.

Among his professional roles, Alex Pellacani held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the University of Trento from 2008 to 2015. He has broad experience in accounting and finance management processes. Based on his technical background, he has been involved as a national board member for the definition of the accounting and reporting principles in the Higher Education Sector established by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

Prior to joining University of Trento, he worked for major multinational consulting firms, including Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and Accenture. In particular, in Accenture he was manager in the Global Business Solutions Division, responsible for consulting projects in the areas of administration, finance and management control.

Alex has served on the HUMANE Board of Directors since 2022 and has become its President in January of this year.

Nadine Burquel

Director General, HUMANE, BE

Nadine is the Director General of HUMANE. She works closely with the Chair and the governing bodies on HUMANE’s strategic developments. She manages the HUMANE Office to offer the membership an attractive portfolio of professional development and networking activities. She has been involved with HUMANE since its foundation in the mid-nineties, until December 2022 as Executive Director of the three residential schools (the Barcelona Winter School, the Berlin Summer School and the Asia School).

Nadine has extensive director level experience, having worked with multiple international non-profit organisations, university networks and international boards. She has wide knowledge of leadership, governance and management in higher education institutions, and the global trends in the higher education sector. As EFMD Director of Business School Services she was responsible for a wide portfolio of large global events and communities of practices, interacting with business schools and universities in the wider Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Gulf, as well as North and South America. More recently in Maastricht University she was strategic adviser to the leadership of the School of Business and Economics, advising on international accreditation, the internationalisation strategy, and delivering societal impact.

She has significant experience with EU (higher) education policy and programmes since the early days of the Erasmus programme. She has a strong track record of EU projects, leading large EU-funded European university networks and providing technical assistance to the European Commission. She is high level EU policy expert, working at system level in Brussels and beyond, carrying out capacity building and evaluations of EU interventions, having worked with EU Delegations in many countries.

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Speakers and moderators

Marianna Bom

Chief Financial Officer, Aalto University, FI

Marianna Bom is the Chief Financial Officer of Aalto University, responsible for the University’s financial management, campus and real estate development as well as administration of the group companies owned by the University.

Prior to joining Aalto University, she held several senior financial executive positions in the corporate sector. She holds an MSc. (Econ) from Helsinki School of Economics.

She is passionate about developing the University’s leadership and administration, bringing the best practices from the corporate sector to Aalto University, without sacrificing the unique traditions of the three historic institutions that formed the University in 2010.

Marianna is a Board Member of HUMANE

Orla Feely

President, University College Dublin; President, CESAER Network of Universities in Science and Technology, IE

Orla Feely is President of University College Dublin.

She holds a BE degree from University College Dublin and MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, where her PhD thesis won the DJ Sakrison Memorial Prize for outstanding and innovative research. While at UC Berkeley, she also won the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award. Her research is in the area of nonlinear circuits and systems, and she has been awarded research grants and prizes from a number of national, international and industry sources. She served as Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact at UCD from 2014 to 2023.

Professor Feely is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Engineers Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering.

She is President of CESAER (the Conference of European Schools of Advanced Engineering Education and Research), and has previously served as President of Engineers Ireland, as Chair of the Irish Research Council, the EU Advisory Group on Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions and the IEEE Technical Committee on Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, and as Board Member and Deputy Chair of the Higher Education Authority in Ireland. She is a member of the Board of Ibec and a member of the judging panels for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

Esa Hämäläinen

Director of Administration and the Secretary General of the Board, University of Helsinki, FI

Esa Hämäläinen is currently the Director of Administration and the Secretary General of the Board at the University of Helsinki. He began his career in 1989 in student politics at the Helsinki University Student Union and continued it in various administrative roles at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.

Since 1998 he worked at the University of Helsinki as research policy advisor, evaluation coordinator and director of central services. He is specialised in higher education and research policy, evaluation processes, service development and organisational changes.

From 2008 till 2011 he was the Director of Administration at the Theatre Academy Helsinki and led the change from state agency to an autonomous university under public law.

At the University of Helsinki he has led major change process for balancing university finances and also the reorganisation and consolidation of university services. He sits in the Board of Directors of service companies and is the former Chair of HUMANE.

Executive Director of Administration | Resources & Services, Member of the President’s Board, University of St. Gallen, CH

Dr. Bruno Hensler is since 2017 the Executive Director of Administration and Member of the President’s Board at the University of St. Gallen. During his professional career his focus has been on the general management of international universities and Higher Education as well as on resources allocation and corporate steering systems. He has significant experience in strategic [digital] business transformation models and impact evaluation. His expertise also includes service, marketing and communication management in the area of education & tourism.

Before becoming Head of Administration, Dr. Bruno Hensler was for six years Principal / Headmaster at the International Boarding School Kloster Disentis (GKD) in Switzerland. From 2013 to 2016 he was assistant lecturer at the University of St.Gallen in Contextual Studies for the Bachelor and Master Level. Prior to joining the University of St Gallen he was from 2007 to 2020 a guest lecturer for Finance & Marketing in Tourism at the University of Pisa in Italy.

He previously worked as Head of Corporate Development and Teaching Innovation at KS Kaderschulen in St Gallen and as Head of the Boarding Section at the International Hochalpinen Institut Ftan in Switzerland. He also did research and consulting work in Agriculture and worked as a Full Time Primary School Teacher.

He holds a PhD from the University of St Gallen.

President of the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra); previous Director General, Higher Education and Research, Ministry of Education and Culture, FI

With over 25 years of experience of leading change and innovation in media, education and policy, Atte became the President of Sitra in 2023.

Prior to this he was the Director General of Higher Education and Research policy at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland (2020-23). Atte worked for 20 years as Senior Editor and CEO of three major Finnish news organizations (Yle, STT and Helsingin Sanomat).

Atte initially completed a law degree at the University of Helsinki and he trained on the bench. Following his dissertation in 2023, Atte is now a Doctor of Science (Economics and Business Administration). He was Professor of Practice at LUT University (2018-20), a fellow at Oxford University’s Reuters Institute (2017-18) and a Senior Fellow at the LSE (2018-20).

Chair of the Board, Aalto University, FI

Mikko Kosonen PhD (Econ) has held several C-level corporate executive positions during the past decades, among others in Nokia Corporation during the high global growth years 1984-2007.

He has also served as a member and Chairman of Aalto University Board during 2015-2024. He has written several books on corporate business strategy, competitiveness and leadership.

Currently he holds several board member and advisory positions.

Tiina Kosunen

Head – Conference and Events Services, University of Helsinki, FI

I am Tiina Kosunen from the University of Helsinki Finland and all-around in academic administration since 1992. Currently I lead the brilliant conference and event services team, which is tasked with providing meeting and event services at Think Corner, supporting more than 100 conferences organised at the University every year, and coordinating main University events, such as the opening of the academic year and the University’s anniversary celebrations.

We also contribute to the organisation of faculty-specific graduation ceremonies and conferment ceremonies – in other words, you can always find us where the party is! My passion is to act as an excellent development partner. I am an experienced and enthusiastic development and management professional. My background is deeply rooted in co-operating with people, and I have a demonstrated track record in team-building and event-organising. I have held several positions within the University of Helsinki, where my tasks have included a wide variety ranging from successfully creating and implementing new services into acting as a product owner in building digital applications. I enjoy working in a changing environment and with new agendas – and I truly loved my Winter School experience in 2009 in Valencia!

My expertise include
• Higher Education Policy
• International Human Resources Management
• Internationalisation Strategy, Processes and Implementation
• Change Facilitation and Change Management
• Service Design
• Coaching and Training
• Conference and Event Management

Tobias Maier

Trainer, NaWik (German National Institute for Science Communication), DE

Dr. Tobias Maier is a science communication professional with a PhD in biochemistry and a ten-year track record in academic research.

He joined NaWik in 2015 and is the head of teaching and training. Tobias has extensive experience in giving workshops and seminars for scientists, both on site and online.

For NaWik, he gives seminars on the basics of science communication, on social media and on science communication strategies for grant proposals

Pastora Martínez Samper

International Action, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; coordinator, OpenEU European University Alliance; member, coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), ES

Pastora Martínez Samper is commissioner for international action at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) since 2023, having joined as vice-rector for Globalisation and Cooperation in 2016. At the UOC she has been responsible for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Internationalization strategy, the Open Knowledge, the Gender equality, and the Sustainable action plans. Currently she is the OpenEU Alliance coordinator, the European University Alliance grouping the main open universities in Europe.

She currently acts as co-chair of the EUA Expert Group on Open Science and the CoARA Working Group on Academic Career Assessment. She also participates in the ISCIII Research Integrity Committee and ANECA Commission for evaluation and monitoring of the state accreditation procedure.

Since September 2015 she is an Associate Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona where she coordinates a specific module on Entrepreneurship and Scientific Communication at the Master in Translational Medicine-MSc.

Before joining the UOC, she has held positions as managing director of biomedical research centers such as the management of IDIBAPS (2010-2016) and CIBERDEM (2009-2019) and as scientific manager of the Institute for BioEngineering of Catalonia – IBEC (2006-2008).

She has a PhD in Physics (UAM, 2003), a Master in the Leadership and Management of Science (UPF-UB-UAB, 2008) and a Master in Business and Administration (EADA Business School, 2014). She has more than 20 years of experience in the management of science including management of research centers, European projects or networks.

Margit Nothnagl

Administrative Director, Max IV Laboratory, Lund University, SE

Dr. Margit Nothnagl is, since the end of August 2023, Administrative Director at Max IV Laboratory, Lund University. In this position she is part of the management team of the largest, state-financed research infrastructure in Sweden, the national synchrotron laboratory. The MAX IV facility welcomes around 1000 users every year, and the beamlines are open to academia, research institutes, industry, and government agencies worldwide.

Previously she was a Faculty Director at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) since 2011. Before that, she worked for four years as a coordination director of studies at SLU.

Margit is an alumn from the HUMANE Winter School 2013 and since March 2022 she is the chair of the HUMANE Residential School Alumni Network.

Antti Savolainen

Director of Administrative Services, University of Helsinki, FI

Antti Savolainen is Director of Administrative Services in University of Helsinki since 2009 and as such is directing general administration sector. One of the main focuses in his working field is development of administration, services and functions.

During his more than 20 years at the University of Helsinki Antti has been involved in many reforms both at Faculty and University level and has acquired versatile experience in change management and service development. He was involved in Bologna Process initiated study reform 2004-2005 when working as a Head of Study Affairs at the Faculty of Science and was the project manager in implementation of campus service structure in the University 2007-2009. During the preparations for University reform in 2008-2009 he was in many ways involved in planning administrative processes and organisational structure. From 2015 – 2016 he was responsible for planning the new organisation for administration (University Services) and was the project manager in its implementation in 2016-17.

In his position he has actively contributed in introducing new methods and thinking such as user-oriented approach, service design and lean management to the development of university functions. He has also participated actively in digitalisation of service production and has directed several years university’s enterprise architecture work

Bart van de Laar

Head of International Affairs, Student & Academic Affairs Office, Utrecht University, NL

Bart van de Laar oversees the Utrecht University international strategy, including partnerships, student and staff journey and the universities warm welcome for all.

Bart is an inclusive innovator at the interface of science and society with an keen eye for international collaboration. Impact-driven, he contributes to transparency and trust through clear structures.

He brings over twenty-five years’ experience in national and international programmes in higher education (Utrecht University, University of Groningen and Surf Foundation).

Alumnus of the 2018 HUMANE Asia Pacific school.

Stephan Van Galen

Secretary General, University of Groningen, NL

Dr. Stephan van Galen has been the Secretary-General of the University of Groningen since September 2015. He is secretary to the Executive Board (President, Rector Magnificus, and Vice President), the College of Deans, and the Supervisory Board. In his role as director he is responsible for all University Services departments, excluding the library and IT. He is responsible for 750 FTE.

The University of Groningen has 7,000 FTE staff, 37,000 students and a budget of 900M Euro. He started his career in 2000 as a senior policy officer at the Association of Universities in The Netherlands (VSNU). In 2003 he became General Secretary of the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), where he was director for strategy and administration.

Stephan read Imperial History at King’s College London and continued his studies at Leiden University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The title of his 2008 Leiden PhD thesis was ‘Arakan and Bengal. The rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) between 1500-1700’.

Stephan is a Board Member of HUMANE.

Karen Vandevelde

HR Director, Antwerp University, BE

Karen Vandevelde is the HR Director at Antwerp University since 2018, after a long career as research policy advisor at Ghent University (2006-2018). She oversees the implementation of HR policies as well as their operational processes, including recruitment & selection, career development, appraisal & rewards systems and academic leadership. She represents Antwerp University in the HR Working group of the Flemish Rectors’ Conference (VLIR), in the Research Policy working group & Academic Careers working group of YERUN, and in the formal national negotiation committee of the government, union representatives and institutions.

Many of her pet projects are to be situated at the intersection of research policies and HR policies. She has taken on the role of Advisor or Expert in a number of working groups for the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation, the Flemish Royal Academy of Science and the Arts, the OECD (Careers of Doctorate Holders project), the European Commission (DG RTD) and a number of consultancy-led projects related to research policy, HR and researchers’ careers.

Karen is committed to making universities a great place to work, despite the increasing pressures on academics in terms of career insecurity, competitive funding acquisition, leadership challenges and work-life balance. In order to keep challenging her own career choices, she enjoys being a mentor in the postdoc career mentoring programmes of Antwerp University as well as Ghent University.

Karen holds a MA Degree from Ghent University (1996) and a PhD Degree in Arts (2001) from the National University of Ireland, Galway.