On October 1, 2026, VIU hosted an inaugural reception to mark Prof. Bernd Huber's first day as President of Venice International University. Professors, students and staff of Venice International University, together with the Dean, Prof. Carmelo Marabello, and Vice-Dean, Prof. Luca Pes, along with members of President Huber's family, listened attentively to President Huber's opening remarks to learn what the future holds under his leadership as VIU enters its fourth decade.
Prof. Caroline Levander of Rice University, representing the Board of Directors, delivered the inauguration address, paying tribute to outgoing President Ambassador Umberto Vattani for his vision and longstanding commitment to VIU, and welcoming Prof. Bernd Huber as the University’s third President. She reflected on VIU’s distinctive place in international higher education and the foundations laid for its continued growth, expressing confidence in President Huber’s leadership as the University enters a new chapter.
Since his inauguration, President Huber has begun meeting with VIU staff, both as a team and in smaller groups, to gain a deeper understanding of the University’s operations and activities. He has welcomed staff members’ insights and ideas for improvement and future development, ensuring that their experience and perspectives contribute to shaping VIU’s next steps. On October 9, the Board of Directors and the Assembly of Members convened to discuss the University’s governance and future priorities. Several working groups were established to examine key areas in greater depth and provide focused input to support the Board’s decision-making. Notably, a joint working group bringing together members of the Board of Directors and the Academic Council will help ensure that VIU’s future strategy is developed in close alignment with its financial resources and academic programmes, strengthening coordination between strategic planning, financial sustainability and academic decision-making.
The Assembly also appointed new members to the Board of Directors and the Academic Council:
- Pierre-Alexandre Bart, Université de Lausanne, Academic Council
- Francesca Biagini, Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Board of Directors
- Shuichi FURUYA, Waseda University, Board of Directors
- Jörg Schäfer, Université de Bordeaux, Academic Council
- Marianne Schmid Mast, Université de Lausanne, Board of Directors
- Hiraku SHIMODA, Waseda University, Academic Council
- Severine Vermeire, KU Leuven, Board of Directors
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Extract from Inauguration Address by Prof. Caroline Levander:
We are all honored to take part in this remarkable celebration of leadership change at Venice International University. Since its founding in 1995, the University has had two presidents, with Ambassador Vattani serving in this important capacity since 2001. Today we commemorate the Ambassador’s achievements even as we joyfully welcome Venice International University’s 3rd President, Dr Bernd Huber, to lead Venice International University at this important time of global transformation.
Venice International University is a singularity in higher education today. Originally founded by 5 member institutions from Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, its vision and mission has been to create a dynamic global campus that represents the rich diversity of our world today. Today its 23 partner universities and research institutions are united in a shared commitment to facing our world’s biggest challenges together—from environment and climate, to social justice, to the impact and consequences of technological advancement. VIU refutes the institutionally siloed nature of higher education as it is practiced today. VIU believes that our individual universities are more than the sum of their parts. And so its partners commit to the shared conviction that students from our particular universities are educated best when they learn together. San Servolo is thus a truly global campus destination, convening students and faculty who share a world view of knowledge attainment.
When we look across the last 30 years of higher education around the world, we might well ask: what experiments have had as much success as VIU? What undertakings in academic innovation have truly changed the industry? The Erasmus Program began a few years before VIU’s founding, and it has leveraged the robust network of EU universities to create a mega-campus system of sorts, but from its conception it was neither fully global nor did it envision a single campus destination and shared curriculum as part of its innovative educational model. A number of US experiments in exporting higher education occurred around 30 years ago as well, but have not performed up to expectations. And the recent rise of Chinese universities is interesting to watch, but it is too early to know their long-term impact and outcome.
[…] VIU began with a simple and profound question: ‘Can we create a single campus where faculty and students from around the world convene to build and study a curriculum that is explicitly focused on global questions and challenges?’ And what do we need in order to do so?
To transform such a question into a vibrant learning ecosystem and to head such an enterprise is no mean feat. The individual able to successfully convene university leaders from all continents in order to imagine new possibilities for our collective future—this task requires an exceptional and rare leader indeed. And today we are fortunate to celebrate two such men.
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Ambassador Vattani, you have led Venice International University with wisdom, creativity, and imagination. Today we are a thriving campus, a global destination for the world’s most interesting minds and for those who aspire to devote their lives to solving the world’s most intractable problems. And this is largely because of your tireless commitment over the last 25 years to transforming VIU into a thriving community of education exploration and arts experimentation.
[…] I, on behalf of the Board of Directors and the Assembly, profoundly commend and thank you.
[…] What attracted Rice University to join VIU was the quality of the partner universities and their collective capacity to truly represent the cultural, social, economic and technological diversity of our world. This achievement is yours, Ambassador Vattani. You have built a distinctive environment, graced with all the right ingredients for success. In short, you leave Venice International University well equipped to succeed over the next decades.
[…] today it is my great honor to welcome you [Prof. Bernd Huber] to your new leadership position as the 3rd President of Venice International University.
Your accomplishments are many and illustrious. As the former President of Ludwig-Maximilians Univeristät München, you ensured that LMU became a University of Excellence, a top ranked global research university across all major international rankings, and a model of international innovation. You led the University’s internationalization strategy with farsighted wisdom and ambition, as witnessed by LMU being one of the 5 founding institutions of VIU.
Your intellectual endeavors have been recognized through your membership in the European Academy of Arts and Sciences. You are a world renowned economist with expertise in labor markets, public finance, government & debt and European fiscal and monetary integration. Widely esteemed by leading colleagues in your field, your academic contributions have been both plentiful and disciple-changing.
If we need any additional proof that VIU has become a world-class institution over the last decades, it can be found in the fact that we have attracted a new president who is not only one of the great scholars in academia but also a true innovative leader. To be a legitimate scholar superstar AND a university leader par excellence is tremendously difficult and only a small number of university presidents around the world can claim this accolade. That VIU has successfully recruited such an individual to lead the university in the years ahead speaks to the success that VIU has had in transforming from an ‘outside the box’ idea with a start-up mentality 30 years ago into a revered institution in an industry that doesn’t respect newcomers.
Today we celebrate a new chapter for VIU, and, President Huber, your proven track record in academic leadership is essential for our ongoing success. It is a time of rejuvenation for VIU in a world that is very different than it was 30 years ago, and you will ensure that VIU continues to have maximum impact in the years ahead. […]
Read complete Inauguration Address
