Plenary - The Role of Higher Education Strengthening Europe’s Competitiveness

Arancha González

Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA)

Sciences Po

Arancha González is the third Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po and the first woman to lead the world's third school for Politics and International Studies. Prior to joining PSIA, Ms González served as Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (2020-2021). She previously was Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (2013-2020). Between 2005 and 2013 she served as Chief of Staff to the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy. Before that she held senior positions at the European Commission in the areas of international trade and development. Ms González started her career as a lawyer in the private sector. Ms González has been a member of PSIA's Strategic Committee since 2017. A Spanish national, Ms González holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and a Postgraduate Degree in European Law from the University Carlos III of Madrid. 

Mark Hoffman

Associate Vice President for Education

London School of Economics

Mark Hoffman is Associate Vice President (Education) and Dean of the General Course and Global Mobility and is a Professor (Education) in the Department of International Relations.  His teaching and research interests focus on critical international theory and conflict and peace studies and he has supervised or co-supervised over 40 PhD students in these areas.  His scholar-practitioner activities in the area of peacemaking and peacebuilding have involved work with range of national, international and intergovernmental organisations and agencies.  He previously served as chair of the Board of Trustees for Concilation Resources, a London-based peacebuilding NGO and he is currently chair of the Board of Trustees of Millennium: Journal of International Studies. 

Sébastien Huber

Director for Development & External Relations

European University Institute

Sébastien Huber is Director for Development and External Relations at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. A specialist in European research and higher education policy, he has held key roles at the EUI, including interim Director of the Academic Service and Head of Strategy and Development, where he has led institutional reforms and strategic initiatives. He previously worked with Science Europe, the CNRS, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing on research policy, international collaboration, and capacity-building programmes, particularly in Africa. He has contributed to the development of European academic cooperation frameworks, research training initiatives, and policies supporting institutional partnerships.

Dorothy Kelly

President of Spanish Universities in European Alliances, Professor at Granada University, ARQUS Coordinator

Granada University

Dorothy Kelly is a professor of Translation at the University of Granada (Spain), where se was also Vice Rector for Internationalization from 2008 to 2023. Her research expertise includes curricular design and delivery in the field of Translation, an area in which she published extensively before devoting her time almost enterely to the internationalization of higher education. In this field, she has an extensive experience in joint programme design and delivery, multilateral cooperation, and designing and managing mobility programmes of all kinds. She was Chair of the Executive Board of the Coimbra Group of Universities from 2010 until 2017 and was a member of Spain's national Bologna Experts Team from 2010 to 2013. She has participated intensely in Spanish, European and international advisory boards and events in the field of higher education and in particular its internationalization. She is currently Chair of the Spanish national network of universities participating in European University Alliances. 

Pilvi Torsti

Director

European Training Foundation

Dr. Pilvi Torsti, is the Director of the European Training Foundation. She served as a State Secretary in three ministries in Finland: the Ministry of Education and Culture 2013-2015 and Ministry of Employment and Economic Affairs & Ministry of Transport and Communications 2019-2023. From 2017 to 2019, Pilvi Torsti was an MP and a member of the education and future committees of the Finnish parliament. She holds a PhD in social sciences from the University of Helsinki, and is also the co-founder of United World College in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, she founded HEI Schools, an education company co-owned by the University of Helsinki where she has been an adjunct professor since 2012 and was nominated as the adjunct professor of the year in 2020. Pilvi is UWC graduate (1995) and Eisenhower Fellow (2013). She is married with three children.