New President of the General Council of the University of Coimbra elected on 10 March

Maria da Glória Ferreira Pinto Dias Garcia holds a law degree from the University of Coimbra and is a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University, where she obtained her doctorate in 1994. She has been a member of various legislative drafting committees, including those responsible for the Portuguese Nationality Act, the Administrative Reform Act, and the revision of the Administrative Procedure Code. She has also drafted the Statutes of the Notarial Profession and of the Portuguese Chamber of Notaries.

Her research and publications focus on administrative law, constitutional law, general state theory, environmental law and urban planning law. She has been a full member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences since 2021. She has been awarded the following honours: Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry (1995) and Grand Cross of the Order of Public Instruction (2016). She has also held the positions of Director of the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University, Vice-Rector and Rector of the same institution. She has also conducted research and taught at several Portuguese and international universities.

"It was with emotion and a deep sense of responsibility that I was elected President of the General Council of the University of Coimbra. I return to the cradle of my academic education with a mixture of gratitude and commitment to serve the University which, despite celebrating its 735th anniversary on 1 March, remains a project to be continued with a great potential to realise. I am confident that the General Council, which began a new cycle yesterday, 10 March 2025, with its 35 members from different generations and backgrounds, will do everything in its power to fulfil its mission," said Maria da Glória Pinto Dias Garcia.

The newly elected President was chosen from a list of ten external personalities appointed on 14 February for the 2024-2028 term of the General Council of the University of Coimbra.

The General Council of the University of Coimbra is composed of eighteen representatives of academic staff and researchers, five student representatives, two representatives of non-teaching and non-research staff and ten distinguished external members.

For more information on the members, duties and responsibilities of the UC General Council, please visit https://www.uc.pt/governo/cons_geral/.