Carmen Vargas takes office as the new rector of the University of Seville
Carmen Vargas takes office as the new rector of the University of Seville
Carmen Vargas Macías was sworn in today as Rector of the University of Seville (US), following the official publication of her appointment in the Official Gazette of the Regional Government of Andalusia (BOJA) and the culmination of the investiture process held in the university's main auditorium. In a solemn ceremony in the auditorium, the Rector was accompanied by numerous Andalusian university rectors; the Regional Minister for Universities, Research and Innovation, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos; the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz; and other dignitaries.
Vargas Macías assumes the highest academic and management responsibility at the University of Seville for a six-year term, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the more than 520-year history of this university.
The new rector began her inaugural address by thanking everyone for the support she has received throughout her career. In this section, she acknowledged the rectors who preceded her, especially those who included her on their teams; the university community, with specific references to students, teaching and research staff, and technical management, administrative, and service personnel; her family; and the colleagues who have supported her since the beginning of her university career.
She presented herself as “the rector for everyone, because every effort matters and every opinion will be heard.” In this regard, she emphasized that “each campus, each faculty, and each school has its own unique character, its own identity, and this diversity should not only make us proud, but also unite us in a sense of belonging to the University of Seville, which, true to our motto, must be the 'University that unites us.'” Therefore, she promised “active listening, dialogue, and consensus” to shape “a collective, open, and responsive project, in which people will always be at the heart of every decision.”
Vargas emphasized her commitment to internationalization and stressed her intention to lead “a university open to the world.” Along these lines, she expressed her desire to foster a university rich in European values, transparent, and participatory. She declared herself “a staunch Europeanist” and insisted that “we must not fear those who criticize us from across the Atlantic.”
To that end, he expressed his confidence that the Ulysseus alliance will be a “spearhead of the university of the future.” He also highlighted the importance of the University of Seville’s collaboration with the Ibero-American University Association for Postgraduate Studies, the most important university network in Ibero-America, “which will help build the Ibero-American Higher Education Area.”
The rector has established the defense of public universities as another key objective of her term, “which guarantees equitable access and defends public service and higher education as a right.” To achieve this goal, she has demanded adequate funding from the regional and national governments. Specifically, she insisted that “we need the government to allocate 1% of Spain’s GDP to public universities, as established by the Organic Law on Universities (LOSU).” While thanking the Andalusian Regional Government for its commitment to the internationalization of the Andalusian public university system, she expressed her confidence that “this commitment will be extended to achieve fair funding.” She emphasized that “every euro invested in public universities translates into well-being, competitiveness, and a future for our region.”
Vargas also expressed his intention to promote “a university committed to local and regional development” and that defends cultural and intellectual heritage “as the foundation of active citizenship.” In this regard, he highlighted the proposal he has already submitted to the mayor of Seville to establish a University-City Forum, from which “projects in which the city and university feel a connection can be fostered, promoting progress, citizen participation, entrepreneurship, social innovation, sustainability, culture, and heritage.”
According to the results of the recent elections, the Professor of Microbiology obtained 50.81% of the weighted votes compared to 44.01% for her opponent, the Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery José Luis Gutiérrez, in a process in which the University of Seville again applied the weighted universal suffrage required by the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU).
Brief biography of the rector
María del Carmen Vargas Macías is a pharmacist and professor of Microbiology at the University of Seville. Her career in university management includes positions as Vice Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy (2007-2008), Director of the Secretariat of Study Plans (2009-2012), Vice Rector of Postgraduate Studies (2012-2015), Vice Rector of Internationalization (2016-2020), and, most recently, Vice Rector of Institutional Projection and Internationalization (2021-2025) at the University of Seville.
In addition, she has held positions at the national and international levels: she was executive secretary of the Internationalization and Cooperation Committee of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) between 2019 and 2022, and has been the general coordinator of the European University Ulysseus' projects since 2020. She has been a member of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists (AMIT) since 2012.
Its government program, under the motto "The University that unites us" , promotes a management based on "solvency, trust and transformation", with emphasis on institutional proximity, transparency and the consolidation of advances in teaching, research and internationalization.
This appointment marks a new era of female leadership at the University of Seville, joining other women who have served as rectors in Andalusia, such as Rosario Valpuesta Fernández at the Pablo de Olavide University, Pilar Aranda Ramírez at the University of Granada, Adelaida de la Calle Martín at the University of Málaga, and María Antonia Peña Guerrero at the University of Huelva. Furthermore, Elisa Pérez Vera, also from Andalusia, paved the way in 1982, becoming the first female rector in Spain at the National University of Distance Education (UNED).
