Isabel Maria de Oliveira Capeloa Gil will be reappointed for the second time as President of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), by decree of the Dicastery for Culture and Education on 2 September. The investiture ceremony will take place on 15 November at 4pm in the Cardinal Medeiros Auditorium and will be presided over by Bishop Rui Valério, Patriarch of Lisbon and Chancellor of the UCP.
The professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Universidade Católica (UCP), and President of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), has been Rector of UCP since 2016. She is the first female President of the IFCU, a consultant to the Pope on Education, and a non-executive director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The President of UCP was responsible for the inauguration of the first private Faculty of Medicine in Portugal, and for developing the project for the new UCP Veritati Campus, which will be truly transformative for the country and will begin construction in 2025.
The impact of his last term was also reflected in the reinforcement of the Pope Francis Social Support Fund, an increase of 35 per cent in the number of graduates, 72 per cent more international students, the annual award of around 5 million euros in merit and social support scholarships, as well as the growth in the impact of the research produced. Also noteworthy is UCP's membership of the Transform4Europe Alliance of European Universities.
This investiture ceremony also includes the swearing-in of the new rectorial team.
Carrying over from the outgoing rectoral team are Peter Hanenberg, Vice-Rector for Research and Doctoral Education, Isabel Vasconcelos, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation, Miguel Athayde Marques, Vice-Rector with responsibility for Infrastructural and Strategic Development, Fernando Ferreira Pinto, Vice-Rector for Legal Affairs, Margarida Mano, Vice-Rector for Continuous Improvement and Development, and José Manuel Pereira de Almeida, Vice-Rector responsible for Social Responsibility, Inclusion and Pastoral Affairs.
A new Vice-Rector will join the team, Nelson Ribeiro, for Transformation, Collaboration and International Affairs.
Pro-Rectors Aires do Couto, Pro-Rector of the Viseu Regional Centre, and Isabel Braga da Cruz, Pro-Rector of the Porto Regional Centre, as well as Administrator Helena Brissos de Almeida, are also taking over from the outgoing rectoral team. Paulo César Azevedo Dias, Pro-Rector of the Braga Regional Centre, and Céline Abecassis-Moedas, Pro-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, also take office.
