Juli Minoves becomes the third rector of the University of Andorra
As of 23 May 2024, Dr Juli Minoves-Triquell is the new rector of the University of Andorra (UdA) for a period of 5 years, having been selected during a University Council session on 29 April and appointed by the Government of Andorra. He is the institution’s third rector, following Daniel Bastida and Miquel Nicolau. The ceremony to welcome the new rector of UdA took place on 21 May in the University’s auditorium and was attended by the prime minister of Andorra, Xavier Espot, along with numerous important academic and institutional figures.
In his speech, the new rector detailed his plan of action, which includes significant space for dialogue in the coming months, and emphasised the role of UdA as an element of the Principality of Andorra’s identity. Minoves-Triquell highlighted the excitement, motivation and sense of responsibility with which he is taking on this new chapter and expressed his eagerness to ‘consolidate the successes achieved by the University and take a close look at the future possibilities required by our students and our society’. In this vein, he championed a co-management model and signalled that he hopes to strengthen the University’s offering of first-cycle studies and attract more students from abroad, so that UdA can be ‘a leading example in the Pyrenees and among Catalan-speaking universities’.
In his concluding speech, the head of the Andorran government recognised the work done by Miquel Nicolau to make UdA ‘a greater, more visible university’, while encouraging Juli Minoves to help the University continue to grow, through challenges like the expansion of its facilities, the future students’ residence and the possibilities that may open up with the European Union Association Agreement.
The process of appointing a new rector began on 22 November 2023, with the publication of the rules for a national and international call for applications, which attracted five candidates and their respective plans of action.
Juli Minoves-Triquell holds a bachelor’s degree in Economic and Social Sciences from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), a master’s in Political Science from Yale University (Connecticut, USA) and a PhD from the same prestigious university on the East Coast of the United States. From 2012 to now, he was a full professor of Political Science and the director of the International Studies Institute at the University of La Verne (California, USA). He has also been an elected member of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences (Instituto de España) since 2022, and has worked as a visiting professor for the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). Previously, he was a diplomat (1993–2001) and a minister for the Government of Andorra, holding various ministerial posts (2001–2009).