Member Henrik C. Wegener

Professor Henrik C. Wegener is Rector of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).

He obtained a master’s degree in food science in 1988, and a PhD in microbiology in 1992 from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (now a part of the UCPH). After graduation he worked as a researcher in the Danish Veterinary Institute, and in 1994 established and led the Danish Zoonosis Centre, connecting research, surveillance and contingency activities at the national institutes for animal health, food safety and public health, and pioneered the “one health idea”. In 1999, Henrik C. Wegener became professor of zoonosis epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen, responsible for developing new approaches to investigate infectious disease emergence and spread based on modern molecular and digital tools, while at the same time working closely with the UN organizations to develop global policies for the responsible use of antibiotics and strengthening epidemic preparedness and response capacities of animal and public health systems globally.

As a consequence of a major reform of the Danish research landscape, Henrik C. Wegener returned fully to university in 2007, becoming initially a department head, and in 2011 provost and executive vice president at the Technical University of Denmark. He played a key role in bringing a number of large government research institutes successfully into the university, in merging and reorganizing several small university departments, and in reforming the universities administration and internal governance.
As an internationally leading expert, Henrik C. Wegener has provided expert advice to governments, commercial companies and NGO’s globally, and he has served on numerous boards and committees in public and private research funding bodies. In 2016, Henrik C. Wegener became the first chair of the group of chief scientific advisers in the European Commission’s Science Advice Mechanism, providing independent science based advice to the European Commission in all policy areas. 

In 2017, Henrik C. Wegener became the 259th Rector in the University of Copenhagen. He has worked tirelessly to develop an environment where the best ideas and the best talents thrive and to connect UCPH with the best research universities globally. In his time as rector, a number of educational, research, organizational and administrative reforms has been carried out to prepare the university even better for the future. 

He has been a member of Heidelberg University’s Academic Advisory Council since 2024.