Former rectors web page
Enric Argullol i Murgadas, 1990-2001
Enric Argullol i Murgadas (Barcelona, 1946) was the first rector of Pompeu Fabra University. Between January and July 1990, he had been commissioner for the Office for the Promotion of the New University of Catalonia (OPUNC), the entity which was to establish the guidelines for the future University. After the adoption of Law 11/1990, of 18 June, on the creation of Pompeu Fabra University, on 30 July 1990, he was appointed president of the Management Committee, which deployed the project and steered UPF during its early years.
Once the Senate had been elected, he was chosen to become rector on 8 November 1993. With the passing of the UPF Statutes, the new Senate elected him as rector on 22 February 1994. When new elections were called, he began a new term of office on 27 May 1997 until 26 June 2001.
He advocated locating the University in the city of Barcelona and during the second half of the 1990s he engineered the extension of UPF, initially oriented towards the social sciences, humanities, health and life sciences and engineering.
Dr Enric Argullol is a full professor of administrative law, specializing in regional law and urban law. He was previously a professor at the UB and at the UAB, where he was dean of the Faculty of Law.
He has been a member of the Consultative Council of the Catalan Government (1981-1987), a member of the Legal Advisory Committee (1979-1981 and 1987-2017) and is a member of the Institute of Catalan Studies. In 2016 the Catalan Government awarded him the Saint George’s Cross and the City of Barcelona awarded him the its Medal of Honour.
Maria Rosa Virós i Galtier, 2001-2005
Maria Rosa Virós (Barcelona, 1935-2010) was Spain's first female professor of Political and Administration Science, and Catalonia's first female university rector. Holder of a PhD in Law from the University of Barcelona, she played a pioneering role in relation to the same institution's political science studies, and went on to be the driving force behind UPF's degree programme in the field in question. She held the positions of general secretary, vice-rector for the implementation of statutes, vice-rector for the university community and dean of political science studies at UPF between 1991 and 2001. After her term of office as rector, she chaired the Barcelona Economic and Social Council (CESB). She received a number of accolades in recognition of her career, including the Medalla President Macià (2005) and the Creu de Sant Jordi (2007).
- UPF's tribute to former rector Maria Rosa Virós
- UPF's publication in honour of former rector Maria Rosa Virós
Josep Joan Moreso i Mateos, 2005-2013
Josep Joan Moreso (Tortosa, 1959) is a professor of Philosophy of Law. Holder of a PhD in Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), he was awarded the degree of doctor honoris causa by the University of Valparaíso (Chile) in October 2010 in recognition of his career as an academic and jurist. His field of research is theory of law, with a particular focus on the structure and dynamism of legal systems, and his most recent research revolves around the philosophical foundations of the Spanish Constitution. His first managerial position at UPF was that of vice-rector for teaching staff and the European Higher Education Area (2001-2005). Before beginning to lecture at UPF, he taught at the UAB and the University of Girona, where he also held various managerial posts as of 1998.
Jaume Casals i Pons, 2013-2021
Jaume Casals i Pons (Barcelona, 1958) is a professor of Philosophy at the Humanities Department of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). He is also a senior fellow of the Institute for Catalan Studies (Institut d'Estudis Catalans).
With a Ph.D. in Philosophy (UAB, 1984), before becoming a professor at UPF he taught at UAB and Paris Diderot (Paris 7). His main lines of research include the Greek genesis of modern and contemporary thought, philosophy and literature. He has translated and edited works by Montaigne, Montesquieu, Berkeley and Bergson, and is the author of 40 articles and several books. He was joint editor-in-chief of the journal L'Avenç (1999-2000) and contributor and member of the editorial boards of various international scientific series on Renaissance literature and philosophy.
In the management and administrative spheres, he has held various positions. At UPF, he was Vice-Rector for Teaching Staff (2005-2009) and for Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies (2001-2005), as well as Dean of the Humanities Faculty (2000-2001). He was also President of the University Libraries Consortium of Catalonia (CBUC, 2005-2009), Director of the Barcelona Humanities Institute (Institut d'Humanitats de Barcelona) and Chair of the UAB Philosophy Department (1990-1992). He has also been the Continuing Education Institute's (IDEC) Academic Board Chairman and Executive Vice-President from 2009 to 2013.
Oriol Amat, 2021-2023
Full Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at Pompeu Fabra University since 2001, Amat studied at Autonomous University of Barcelona (PhD in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in the same speciality), at ESADE (Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and MBA) and at the Stockholm School of Economics (International Teachers Programme). He has spent time at various reference centres, such as Linkoping University (Sweden), Massey University (New Zealand), Université de Montpellier (France) and Diego Portales University (Chile).
Professor at UPF since 1992, he has always been interested in the four main dimensions of academic life: research, knowledge transfer, teaching and management.
His lines of research include the analysis of the success factors of organizations and the ethical aspects of finance. He has directed more than fifteen theses and is the author of scientific articles and more than forty books, including Informe anual de l’empresa catalana [Annual Report of the Catalan companies] (2020), L’Ampolla mig plena: Aprendre de les crisis i dels que ho fan millor [The half-full bottle: Learning from crises and from those who made it better] (2020), Detecting accounting fraud before it’s too late (2019), Renda Bàsica Universal: Anàlisi d’una proposta disruptiva [Universal Basic Income: Analysis of a disruptive proposal] (2019), Valoració i compravenda d’empreses [Valuation and sale of companies] (2018). Some of his books have been translated into several languages (French, English, Portuguese…). He also collaborates and is a member of the editorial board of several international scientific publications.
In the field of management, he has held various positions. At UPF, he has been dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management (2018-2021), director of the Department of Economics and Business (2003-2005), vice-rector for Economics, Information Systems and Services (1997-2001) and, specifically in the teaching field, he was director of the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (2006-2011).
From the beginning of his professional career, he has actively collaborated with social institutions. He has been dean of the College of Economists of Catalonia, a member of the advisory board of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and PIMEC; and member of the Catalonia 2022 working group, which designed the post-Covid strategy. He is also member of the Spanish Sustainable Finance Academic Forum. He has been the founder and president of the Catalan Accounting and Management Association (2014-2018), member of the Parliament of Catalonia (2015-2017), member of the Advisory Board for the Reactivation and Growth of Catalonia (2011-2015) and Director of the National Securities Market Commission (2011-2015), among others.