Professor Zlatko Skirbis elected as the new President of SACRU

Tuesday, August 2, 2022. The Governing Board of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU) met on Saturday, July 30th, 2022, at 10 a.m. in the Presidential Suite of Boston College, United States, under the chairmanship of SACRU President and Universitat Ramon Llull Rector Professor Josep Maria Garrell.

According to the SACRU Constitution and By Laws (Article 4, Subparagraph d. v.), the term of the President and Vice-President is two years. Professor Zlatko Skrbis President of the Australian Catholic University was elected as the new President of SACRU for the two-year period 2022-2024. Along with Prof. Skirbis, the Governing Board voted the Rector of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Professor Franco Anelli, as the new SACRU Vice-President in place of Professor Ignacio Sánchez Diaz, the President of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

In the two years since it was founded to promote shared values, the alliance of eight research universities from across the world has established working groups to facilitate global collaboration and consideration of critical contemporary issues the world faces today.

The alliance has published several papers and joint publications on issues of critical importance including the conflict in Ukraine, Women in leadership, and Laudato sí and environmental sustainability.

In November 2021, the alliance presented a virtual research student workshop, “A Sustainable Future: research delivering impact for the 21st century”, which brought together more than 60 PhD and other research students from each of the SACRU universities to present the results of their research on different disciplines related to sustainable development.

Professor Zlatko Skrbis became the fourth Vice-Chancellor and President of Australian Catholic University in January 2021. He previously held senior leadership positions at Australian Catholic University, Monash University, and The University of Queensland. He holds a PhD in sociology from Flinders University and undergraduate degrees in sociology and philosophy from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Governing Board would like to thank Prof. Josep Maria Garrell, the first President of the Alliance, and congratulate Prof. Skirbis for his appointment.