EARTO elects Maria Khorsand as new president

The European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO) has unanimously elected Maria Khorsand as its new president.

The decision was taken by the executive board, with the handover taking place during the 2014 EARTO Annual Conference, jointly organised with Forschung Austria. Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, and Robert-Jan Smits, Director General of DG Research and Innovation, both attended the event.

Khorsand succeeds Jan Mengelers, former President of TNO, who has served as EARTO president for the past two years. After her election, Khorsand thanked Jan Mengelers for his dedication to EARTO and for having successfully raised the profile of the European RTO community.

She said she was “honoured” to serve as the voice of 350 European research and technology organisations at a time of great challenges, and expressed her strong conviction that EARTO will remain a key partner for EU RDI policy makers in Europe.

Khorsand is the chief executive of SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and held a variety of executive positions at Ericsson, including president of Ericsson Technology Licensing, before becoming president of OMX Technology and president of Dell Sweden. She joined SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden in 2007 as CEO.

She sits on the boards of several organisations, including Beijer Electronics, SOS Alarm Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. She is also chair of the Swedish Co-ordination Council for Smart Grids and vice-chair of the Section for Research and Education within the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. She holds a Master and Bachelor of Science from The California State University.