Governance

Kevin Guillaume is a Brussels-born higher education and research specialist with a long-standing commitment to European academic cooperation. Holding degrees in international relations from UC Louvain and political economics from KU Leuven, he has built his career across key institutions shaping higher education policy. His early work at the Ministry for higher education and research of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation gave him a broad overview of European processes such as the Bologna reforms, along with experience in governance, mobility, recognition, and quality assurance. He later became director for international relations at the Academy for Research and Higher Education, representing all French-speaking Belgian institutions and supporting them in internationalisation, partnership development, and strategic advocacy.

Alongside his professional path, Guillaume has spent more than two decades in the indie music scene as a drummer, guitarist, and co-founder of the label dear.deer.records. A new father and an avid reader with a strong interest in global cultures, he approaches his work with a belief in the long-term transformative potential of the European Universities initiative. As Secretary General, he aims to strengthen collaboration across Circle U.’s seven partner institutions, ensure broad community engagement, and help build an alliance that empowers students, staff, and researchers to shape solutions to societal challenges.

Contact : secgen@circle-u.eu

Giovanni Federico Gronchi, born in Pisa in 1970, built a dual foundation in classical studies and music before turning fully toward mathematics. After completing both his secondary school diploma and a piano diploma with top marks, he pursued a Master’s Degree in Mathematics at the University of Pisa, earning his laurea with highest honors in 1997 and later completing a Ph.D. in 2002 with a focus on collision singularities in the N-body problem. He continued his academic career at the same university, moving from Researcher to Associate Professor and eventually to Full Professor of Mathematical Physics in 2016.

His work in celestial mechanics has earned him international recognition. He has been active within the International Astronomical Union since 2006, holding several leadership roles, and has contributed to major astronomical projects such as Pan-STARRS as an external scientist. His achievements were honored in 2007 with the naming of asteroid (96217) after him. Gronchi has also held prominent national positions, including the presidency of the Italian Society of Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics and the coordination of the expert group evaluating Italian research in mathematics and computer science for ANVUR.

Contact : giovanni.federico.gronchi@unipi.it

Eivind Engebretsen is a Norwegian scholar and a leading figure in the medical humanities. A full professor of interdisciplinary health science at the University of Oslo, he has shaped national and international thinking on healthcare education and the role of the humanities in medicine. He co-founded and directs the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Healthcare Education, the first Norwegian centre of its kind, and has held several major academic leadership roles, including Research Director at the Faculty of Medicine and Vice-Dean of Postgraduate Studies. Since 2023, he serves as Dean of the Circle U. European University Alliance, overseeing the alliance’s academic programmes.

Engebretsen’s research explores how legitimacy, authority and meaning are constructed in health communication and decision-making, drawing on intellectual history, linguistics, philosophy and anthropology. Known for his work on knowledge translation and for advocating a “translational medical humanities” approach, he has published extensively in major international journals and co-authored influential books, including Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics. His contributions have sparked global debate and positioned him as a leading voice at the intersection of medicine, the humanities and democratic engagement in global health.

Contact : dean@circle-u.eu

Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho is a senior academic leader at King’s College London, where he serves as Vice-Dean International for the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy. He directs the King’s Brazil Institute, leads Brazilian and Latin American Studies within the Department of War Studies, and heads the King’s Observatory of Democracy in Latin America. His career spans universities in Brazil, Germany and Denmark, with active collaborations across Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, reflecting his strong commitment to global academic exchange.

Within Circle U., he coordinates the Academy Chair Programme, aiming to build a vibrant, collaborative academy that strengthens research and teaching across the alliance. He values Circle U. as a space where interdisciplinarity and genuine international cooperation can flourish despite global challenges. Known for his curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, he thrives on connecting with scholars from diverse backgrounds—and, if given a sabbatical year, would happily spend it learning new languages, finishing long-planned publications, and exploring countries he has yet to visit.

Contact : vice-dean@circle-u.eu

Alessandro Balestrino is professor of Public Economics at the Department of Political Science, University of Pisa. He teaches and does research on such issues as public expenditure, especially the Welfare State, tax policy, especially the taxation of families, and the economic concept of well-being.

Contact : alessandro.balestrino@unipi.it

Contact : secgen@circle-u.eu

Contact : margo.dheygere@circle-u.eu

Contact : giacomo.musicco@circle-u.eu

Contact : audrey.sullivan@circle-u.eu