Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU was officially inaugurated as the Rector of Universitas Indonesia (UI) for the 2024–2029 period at the “Pelantikan dan Serah Terima Jabatan Rektor Universitas Indonesia Periode 2024–2029” (Inauguration and Handover of the Rector of Universitas Indonesia for the 2024–2029 Period) event held on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at the Purnomo Prawiro Hall, UI Depok Campus. The inauguration was led by the Chairperson of the UI Board of Trustees (MWA), Dr. (H.C.) K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf, and attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Prof. Ir. Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro, M.Sc., Ph.D.
The Inauguration of Prof. Heri Hermansyah as UI Rector is based on the UI MWA Decree Number 019/SK/MWA-UI/2024 concerning the Dismissal of the UI Rector for the 2019–2024 Period and the Appointment of the UI Rector for the 2024–2029 Period. Based on this decision, Prof. Heri replaces Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D as the previous UI Rector, and carries out the duties and obligations as stipulated in the Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 75 of 2021 concerning the UI Statutes.
For this determination, Minister Satryo Brodjonegoro expressed his appreciation to Prof. Ari Kuncoro for the contributions he has made during his five years of service. “Words of appreciation are expressed to Prof. Ari Kuncoro as UI Rector for the 2019–2024 Period. There have been many successful achievements during the leadership of Prof. Ari, both at the national and international levels, one of which is UI receiving the Top Government Public Relations GPR Award 2024 in the category of Best University in Digital Communication Public Management,” he said.
Minister Satryo also congratulated Prof. Heri Hermansyah who will continue the baton of UI leadership. He said, “In the future, high hopes are entrusted to Prof. Heri to drive significant progress for UI in the future as a leading university that has an impact on the progress of the Indonesian nation. As a university that carries the name of Indonesia, the quality, relevance, and impact of UI education must be recognized as the best nationally and internationally.”
Prof. Heri was appointed as the Rector of UI after going through the UI Rector Election process which took place from July to September 2024. The process includes several stages, namely recruitment, screening, and determination, all of which are carried out effectively and efficiently based on the principles of accountability, transparency, and meritocracy. The Chairperson of the UI MWA, Gus Yahya, believes that the entire process that has been carried out can guarantee the quality of leaders needed by UI. “After going through a very strict selection process, we believe that Prof. Heri Hermansyah has the competencies needed to carry out his duties and achieve the highest achievements of UI,” he said.
To make UI a university with an impactful national contribution and gain reputable global recognition through multidisciplinary collaboration, over the next five years, Prof. Heri will implement five main strategies that are outlined in fifteen priority programs. These five strategies are Empowering Entrepreneurship, Improving Education Access and Quality, Impactful Research and Innovation, Global Competitiveness, and Good Governance and Cultural Transformation.
In his remarks, Prof. Heri said that UI is required to be able to compete with the best universities in the world in producing impactful research and innovation and producing globally competitive graduates. UI is also required to have an entrepreneurial spirit, so that it can move to meet the funding needed to carry out the process and output of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education with quality and improve the welfare of its citizens.
“UI has a big responsibility as a kitchen of scholars in educating the nation’s life, a think tank for strategic issues, and contributing to producing a golden generation that supports economic growth and national leadership in realizing Indonesia Emas 2045. For that, we must realize UI as a world-class research university with an entrepreneurial spirit and high impact on the development of the nation and state,” said Prof. Heri.
The efforts that UI will carry out in the future cannot be separated from the contributions and foundations that have been built by the previous UI Rector. During the Covid-19 pandemic and the global geopolitical conflict, UI faced difficult challenges. Changes in the world situation require universities to transform through adaptation, improvisation, and innovation. From this condition, UI learned that knowledge needs to be downstreamed, not limited to the classroom and conceptual, but must move towards application. For that, various efforts have been made, so that UI’s performance has improved as evidenced by international rankings.
“UI’s increasingly better global ranking will facilitate collaboration with various international partners. Borrowing the words of Kahlil Gibran, we, the 2019–2024 Period, are just an arc. Hopefully, what has been done can be a pillar for Prof. Heri’s 2024–2029 Period. The challenges will not change, global universities are moving towards increasingly complex research. Congratulations to Prof. Heri and his staff for carrying the baton to the next journey, Insya Allah, UI will be even better,” said Prof. Ari.
The event “Pelantikan dan Serah Terima Jabatan Rektor Universitas Indonesia Periode 2024–2029” (Inauguration and Handover of the Rector of Universitas Indonesia for the 2024–2029 Period” was also attended by several state officials, including the Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, H. Ahmad Muzani; Minister of Cooperatives, Budi Arie Setiadi; Members of the People’s Representative Council and Members of the Regional Representative Council; Members of the Audit Board, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Deposit Insurance Corporation; leaders and members of non-ministerial government institutions; and Deputy Ministers. Also present were the UI ranks consisting of the MWA, Academic Senate, Board of Professors, University Secretary, Vice Rectors, Deans of Faculties, as well as Directors of Schools and Directors of Vocational Education Programs.
A series of congratulations for Prof. Heri were also given by various universities in Indonesia, including Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Negeri Padang, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Terbuka, Institut Teknologi Bandung, and Universitas Sulawesi Barat.
Prof. Heri was born on January 18, 1976, in Sukabumi, West Java. His track record as an outstanding academic led him to become the youngest professor at the Faculty of Engineering (FT) UI in 2013 at the age of 37. Before being inaugurated as Rector of UI, he served as Dean of FTUI in 2022–2024, and succeeded in improving FTUI’s position in the Times Higher Education rankings in 2023 and 2024; and making the Chemical Engineering, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering Study Programs the best study programs in Indonesia according to the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings (QS WUR).
