Our university is delighted to host two distinguished guest professors, Tom Beer and Ourania Dimitraki, under the Ludovika Fellowship Program. Their visit offers a valuable opportunity to strengthen academic exchange and explore new avenues for cooperation.
Tom Beer AO, FRSV, DSc., Ph.D., is an internationally recognised environmental risk researcher with a distinguished career spanning academia, scientific research, industry, and government policy. A former Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, he has led major research programs on environmental, climate, and geophysical risks and provided expert advice to governments and international organisations.
Dr Beer served as an expert and lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and advised the Mekong River Commission for over a decade. His pioneering work in risk assessment contributed to the establishment of the IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability, which issued the influential Budapest Manifesto on Risk Science and Sustainability in 2002. In recognition of his contribution to environmental risk management, he was elected to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and previously served as President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).
He is the recipient of numerous international scientific distinctions, including the American Geophysical Union International Award and the University of Sydney Alumni Award for International Achievement.
Dr Ourania Dimitraki is a distinguised scholar at the University of Bedfordshire, visiting lecturer of numerous British and French universities, having special interest of applied economics, particularly in defence economics, sustainability and international security studies.
Dr Dimitraki has returned to our university, following her previous visit in 2024 as a distinguished guest lecturer under the Ludovika Scholars Program, when she addressed in her presentations crutial topics as military budget planning, resourse allocation and the economic dimentions of defence policy.
On 2 September 2026, Dr Pier Paolo Pigozzi, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, welcomed the guest professors on a courtesy visit. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views and explore potential avenues for future cooperation, with a particular focus on strengthening academic and institutional ties.
We are delighted to welcome these two distinguished professors to our university and look forward with great interest to their forthcoming lectures, as well as to fruitful academic collaboration with leading experts from our institution.
Text: Éva Sőregi-Vilén Program Director
Photo: Brigitta Derka-Fehér Senior Officer