Eva Egron-Polak, former Secretary General of the International Association of Univeristies (IAU), was educated in the Czech Republic, Canada and France. Having studied French Literature, Political Science and International Political Economy, her post-graduate research focused on early stages of European Union policy in higher education. She held the position of IAU Secretary General from 2002 to 2017. Prior to joining IAU, for almost 20 years, she served in various senior positions at Universities Canada (former AUCC), including as Vice-President, International. As Secretary-General of IAU, Eva Egron-Polak launched a number of initiatives in various areas of higher education policy, positioning IAU as an important global actor in research and policy development concerning, for example, internationalization of higher education, provision of equitable access to and success in higher education, institutional autonomy and ethics in higher education as well as the contribution of higher education to sustainable development. She greatly expanded the Association’s convening role, consolidating the Association’s capacity as a clearing house of information on the systems and institutions of higher education around the world. Under her leadership IAU launched regular and systematic Global Surveys on internationalization, improved and expanded its communications with IAU Members and the higher education community, created the professional development program called LGEU and developed ISAS, an advisory service to review and assess institutional internationalization strategies. Eva Egron-Polak enlarged IAU partnerships to include many organizations and networks and made IAU highly visible.In addition to being an IAU Senior Fellow, Eva Egron-Polak is a member of many boards and advisory committees, including the Magna Charta Observatory, the GAPS initiative, and StudyPortals. She has written and presented many papers on higher education topics and continues to be actively involved in the field.