Who is the new rector Jón Atli Benediktsson?

Jón Atli Benediktsson was elected rector of the University of Iceland in a general election by staff and students last Monday, 20 April. Benediktsson is Professor in the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Pro-Rector for science and academic affairs since 2009. He will be the 29th in the line of rectors.

With the election, Jón Atli Benediktsson has been nominated for the position of Rector, however, as per University regulations the University Council shall nominate the candidate who has received the majority of votes cast to the Minster of Education, Science and Culture. The Minister then appoints the rector for a five-year term in accordance with the University Council's nomination on 30 June 2015.

Who is the new rector of the largest and oldest University in Iceland?

Jón Atli Benediktsson was born in Reykjavík 19 May, 1960, and has 5 siblings. He graduated in Electrical Engineering in 1984 from the University of Iceland and then went on to study at Purdue University, West-Lafayette in Indiana where he graduated with a PhD in 1990.

Benediktsson began his career at the University of Iceland as an Assistant Professor in Electrical- and Computer Engineering in 1991 and full Professor from 1996. He has been the Pro-Rector for science and academic affairs since 2009, and has served in various other administrative capacities within the University of Iceland.

Jón Atli Benediktsson is one of the most productive scientists at the University of Iceland. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 research papers and book chapters. Benediktsson has furthermore received various acknowledgements for his research, both in Iceland and abroad. Benediktsson is the co-founder of the start-up company Oxymap which has developed equipment and software for the diagnosis of eye disease via digital image analysis. Jón Atli Benediktsson is the co-author of three patents.

Jón Atli has been a Visiting Professor at universities in Italy, England and China as well as a Visiting Scientist at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy. He was the President of IEEE Geosicience and Remote Sensing Society in 2011 and 2012 but on the board from the year 2000.

Jón Atli is married to Stefanía Óskarsdóttir, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland. They have two sons; Benedikt Atli (1991) and Fridrik (2003).