João Gomes Cravinho appointed Rector of the College of Europe

The College of Europe has appointed João Gomes Cravinho as Rector for a renewable five-year mandate.

Cravinho’s appointment was decided by the Administrative Council of the College of Europe on 30/04/2026, following the proposal of its Academic Council. Ewa Ośniecka-Tamecka will continue leading the College as Acting Rector until Cravinho takes office.

He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Oxford and two degrees from the London School of Economics. He also taught at the University of Coimbra (Portugal). He also served as EU European Union Ambassador to India (2011-2015) and Brazil (2015-2018). He subsequently served as Portugal's Minister of National Defence (2018-2022) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2022-2024). He is currently the EU Special Representative for the Sahel.

"We believe that João Cravinho’s dedication to scholarly excellence and his long-standing professional experience will help further strengthen the College’s position as one of Europe’s most renowned centres of excellence in European studies," Herman Van Rompuy, President of the Administrative Council of the College of Europe, stated.

Cravinho succeeds Federica Mogherini, who resigned as Rector of the College of Europe in December 2025 after she and two others were questioned by the Belgian police amid accusations of procurement fraud.

She had been the Rector of the College of Europe since 2020. The institution is a post-graduate university for European studies in Bruges (Belgium), Natolin (Poland) and Tirana (Albania).