Universitas Indonesia (UI) has elected Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU as the UI Rector for the 2024–2029 Period. The announcement of the Elected UI Rector was carried out after the “Debat Publik Tiga Calon Rektor UI Periode 2024–2029” (Public Debate of Three Candidates for UI Rector for the 2024–2029 Period) on Monday, September 23, at Balai Sidang of the UI Depok Campus. Prof. Heri received 18 votes out of a total of 23 votes cast by the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology—who was represented by the Director General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris—and 15 Members of the UI Board of Trustees (MWA).
The fifteen Members of the UI MWA are Dr. (HC) KH Yahya Cholil Staquf; Prof. Dr. Ir. Praswasti PDK Wulan, M.T .; Dr. (HC) Noni Sri Ayati Purnomo, B.Eng., M.B.A.; Dr. Muh. Yusuf Ateh, Ak., MBA, CSFA, CGCAE; Dr. Ir. Setia N Miliatia Moemin, MBA; Ir. Irfan Setiaputra; Dr. Dany Amrul Ichdan, S.E., M.Sc.; Prof. Dr. Tri Hayati, S.H., M.H.; Prof. Dr. Amy Yayuk Sri Rahayu, M.Si.; Dr. Enie Novieastari, S.Kp., M.S.N.; Prof. Drs. Heru Suhartanto, M.Sc., Ph.D.; Prof. Dr. Bambang Wibawarta, S.S., M.A.; Prof. Dr. Budi Frensidy, S.E., Ak., M.Com., CPA; Tikka Anggraeni, M.Si., CPR; and Muhammad Zahid Abdullah.
Prof. Heri, who received the baton of leadership, said that to advance UI, it cannot only be done by Superman, but by a super team. “All of us, all UI stakeholders, both on campus and off campus, let’s join hands together to advance UI. Let’s make UI impactful, reputable, contributing to the glory of this nation, so that UI is not only a leading university, but also a driving university to advance this nation,” he said.
The long process of the UI Rector Election (Pilrek) for the 2024-2029 period has been going on since July 2024. In the Public Debate of the Three UI Rector Candidates, Prof. Heri competed with two other candidates, namely Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, SpPD, K-GEH, MMB and Teguh Dartanto, Ph.D. The three presented their respective plans regarding university development and the solutions offered to answer the main challenges that UI will face in the future.
The Public Debate of the Three UI Rector Candidates was divided into two segments. In Segment 1, the rector candidates presented their vision, mission, and work programs, followed by questions that each candidate responded to. Meanwhile, in Segment 2, each candidate received the same three questions from the UI MWA, which included UI’s role as an inclusive campus that values diversity, UI’s development through innovation and creativity, and UI’s responsibility in advancing the nation and state.
On that occasion, Prof. Heri conveyed his vision to realize UI as a university with an impactful national contribution and obtain reputable global recognition through productivity-based multidisciplinary collaboration. To achieve this, he will implement five main strategies that will be implemented in fifteen priority programs, namely Empowering Entrepreneurship, Improving Education Access and Quality, Impactful Research and Innovation, Global Competitiveness, and lastly, Good Governance and Cultural Transformation.
The Chairperson of the UI MWA, Dr. (H.C.) K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf, said that the UI Rector Election is important because UI has a significant role in the country. He said, “UI is the only university that carries the Indonesia name. UI is not only a reference for basic insights into the intellectual framework of Indonesian civilization, but also provides superior human resources to oversee, manage, and fight for the vision and future of Indonesia. Therefore, the Election of the UI Rector is not only important for the UI academic community, but also important for the entire Indonesian nation.”
