Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič elected new President of the UL Governing Board
Bor Slana/STA
Date of publication:
At its constitutive session on Thursday, 24 April, the Governing Board of the University of Ljubljana (UL) elected its new President. The election, conducted by secret ballot via the Simply Voting system, resulted in the appointment of Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič, a University representative from among the UL employees engaged in higher education activities. Aleša Mižigoj was appointed Vice-President.
Two candidates stood for election to the post of the UL President, Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič and Prof. Dr Emil Erjavec, who presided over the UL Governing Board during the 2021–2025 term. Five members of the UL Governing Board voted for Prof. Dr Herakovič, while four supported Prof. Dr Erjavec.
Following a proposal from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed Aleša Mižigoj, Dr Matjaž Kuntner and Dr Barbara Smolnikar to the UL Governing Board, and approved the appointment of Matjaž Čemažar, MSc as the member representing employers. In addition to Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič, University representatives from among UL employees engaged in higher education activities (higher education teachers, researchers, and higher education staff) on the Governing Board include Prof. Dr Katja Vintar Mally and Prof. Dr Emil Erjavec. Tea Urankar, LLM, represents other UL staff, and Nika Sever represents UL students. The term of office for the student representative is two years, while the term for other members is four years.
The UL Governing Board is the governing body responsible for managing economic affairs and ensuring the smooth running of the University's material operations.
Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič is a full professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana (UL FS), where he heads the LASIM Laboratory and serves as the Department Head of the Chair of Manufacturing Technologies and Systems. He served for four years as Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (now the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation) and has also been a member and chairman of various boards and professional associations at home and abroad. He spent several years working in industry. His academic output includes numerous scientific and technical articles and conference papers.
He is particularly known for his strong engagement in transferring knowledge to the economy. Together with his research team, he designed Yaskawa Electric Corporation’s first robot factory in Europe, which the Japanese company chose to locate in Slovenia. The factory, including all production and logistics processes, was developed in detail using digital twin technology and artificial intelligence before actual construction began – a remarkable achievement that placed Slovenia on the global technological map. For this pioneering work, he received the prestigious national Puh Prize in 2019. Within LASIM at the UL FS, he and his colleagues also established Slovenia’s first and only fully operational Smart Factory demonstration centre, based on digital twin technology and artificial intelligence.