University Council nominates Dr Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir to be UI Rector

The University Council agreed at a meeting yesterday to nominate Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir, professor at the Faculty of Political Science, for the position of Rector of the University of Iceland for a five-year term starting 1 July.

Silja Bára was elected rector by UI staff and students in elections held in two rounds on 18-19 March and 26-27 March. She was one of eight candidates running for rector, following the position's advertisement in January.

The University Council discussed the elections at their meeting yesterday and agreed to write to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation to nominate Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir for the position of UI rector for the period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2030.

About Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir

Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir will be the thirtieth rector of UI since the University was founded in 1911, and the second woman to hold the position.

Silja Bára graduated with a BA in international affairs from Lewis & Clark College in the US in 1995 and an MA in the same subject from the University of Southern California in 1998. She completed a PhD in political science from University College Cork in Ireland in 2018 and received an award from the Political Studies Association of Ireland for the best PhD thesis written at an Irish university. Silja Bára also has a graduate diploma from UI in methodology in the social sciences and the pedagogy of higher education.

Silja Bára is professor of international affairs at the UI Faculty of Political Science. She began working for UI as a sessional lecturer and adjunct lecturer in 2005 and served as director of the UI Institute of International Affairs 2006-2008. She was hired as a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science in 2018 and subsequently promoted to senior lecturer, followed by a promotion to professor in 2020.

Silja Bára’s research has focused on foreign affairs and national security, gender and reproductive rights, and international affairs from a feminist perspective. Her book Rof – frásagnir kvenna af fóstureyðingum (Women’s accounts of abortion), co-authored with Steinunn Rögnvaldsdóttir, was nominated for the Fjara Literary Prize and the Hagþenkir Prize. In 2020, Silja Bára was selected to participate in the Fulbright Arctic Initiative III (FAI), the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange programme in the Arctic region. She has also worked as research director at the Höfði Reykjavík Peace Centre and is part of the first Icelandic team to edit the journal Scandinavian Political Studies.

Silja Bára is a member of the Teaching Academy of Public Universities in Iceland and received a prize from UI in 2019 for her outstanding contributions to the field of teaching. She has been involved in teaching at all five UI schools and has also supervised almost 250 undergraduate and graduate students writing their theses, including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

Silja Bára has been a member of the University Council since 2022, representing the University community. She has also held various positions of trust outside UI. She is currently chair of the board of the Icelandic Red Cross and was chair of the Equality Council 2019-2021. Silja Bára has recently been involved in the Global Community for Women’s Leadership, an international initiative aimed at supporting the world’s next generation of female leaders and equipping them for greater success. She was among a group of 50 women from across the world to be invited last year to take part in an initiative organised by the non-profit Institute of International Education (IIE).