Jón Atli Benediktsson, Professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, took office as Rector of the University of Iceland; at an inauguration ceremony at the University of Iceland on Tuesday, 30 June. Dr. Benediktsson is succeeding Kristín Ingólfsdóttir, Professor in Pharmacology, who took office in 2005.
In her speech, Dr. Ingólfsdóttir, former Rector, said that on this day she was first and foremost grateful. “I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve as Rector of the University of Iceland. It has been a sheer privilege to get to know the dynamic people who work at the University in teaching, science, administration, support services and innovation – their selflessness and ambition to ensure that the core operations of the University be as successful as possible. For this I am grateful. Students have taken an active part in building up the university and contributed to research, innovation and management and stood by their University in the adversity following the economic crash. For this I am grateful”.
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.
The new Rector said in his inauguration speech that “The University of Iceland plays a vital role in the Icelandic community; now more than ever. It not only imports international knowledge and ideas to the country but also communicates science and research in numerous fields to other countries. Icelandic scientists are respected worldwide and more and more foreign students choose to come to Iceland study at the University of Iceland.”
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 Geoscience 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).