VUB professor Elvira Haezendonck elected president IAME
First female president in 30-year history of the International Association of Maritime Economists
At the congress of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) in Busan, South Korea, members elected professor Elvira Haezendonck as the new president with almost two-thirds of the votes. Elvira Haezendonck is professor of sustainable strategy at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is also a visiting professor at UAntwerpen and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The Secretary position of IAME is also held by a VUB researcher, namely Professor Michaël Dooms. Flanders, and VUB in particular, has a long and influential history in the organisation, organising its congress in Mombasa, Kenya, in order to include the African continent more in the association.
Haezendonck: "This is not only an important academic honour, in the association's 30-year history, I am the first female president. We shouldn't really be highlighting this today, but we are really setting an example to the maritime business community with this, because the Council and IAME vice-presidents are also gender-balanced."
In her inaugural speech at the general assembly, Haezendonck thanked her predecessors Thanos Pallis (University of Athens) and Jan Hoffman (UNCTAD Switzerland):
"They leave big shoes to fill, but fortunately I have big feet that give me self-confidence. With the Council, we will take up the challenge to further professionalise our organisation."
The president's mandate runs from 2022 to 2024. Founded in 1992, the IAME has grown into an established body of and for maritime researchers worldwide. The association is affiliated with the leading academic journals Maritime Policy & Management and Maritime Economics & Logistics and maintains good contacts with the UN, IMO and other organisations and companies in the maritime world, among others.
contact:
Elvira Haezendonck
0495 80 84 08
