Mihály Pósfai Elected Academy of Sciences President

Geology scholar and university professor Mihály Pósfai has been elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) for the next three years, with the decision made at the 200th general assembly on Tuesday.

The closed session also elected MTA literature scholar Gábor Kecskeméti as secretary-general, while psychologist Ilona Kovács will take up post of deputy secretary-general. Deputy presidents and board members have also been elected.

Mihály Pósfai was chosen for the post over archaeologist László Borhy, biologist Ádám Miklósi, and chemist András Perczel.

In a Facebook post, Zoltán Tanács, the incoming minister for technology, noted that in his application, Mihály Pósfai had argued that the Academy was capable of reaching broad sections of society and communicating the results of science thanks to its relationships with professional associations, public collections, and industrial, government and local government actors.

He also noted that the new president emphasized that the MTA "has members with a wide spectrum of political views, but the operation of the institution as a whole and the collegial activities of its members are guided not by political considerations, but by the ideals of the pursuit of science and service to society."

Born in 1963 in Szombathely, W Hungary, Mihály Pósfai studied geology at the Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest, where he obtained a degree in 1987. Afterwards, he spent some time studying environmental science at the Central European University and also spent several months at the University of Stockholm. He received a PhD in 1992 and a doctorate in 2004. He habilitated at the Veszprém University in 2005. Since 2006, he has been working as a professor of Pannon University's earth and environment sciences faculty.

He was elected a regular member of MTA in 2016. He is also a member of Academia Europea. Mihály Pósfai was awarded the Széchenyi Prize in 2016 and the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Commander's Cross, Civil Division in 2026.