Andreas Corcoran, Deputy Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU), shares his global education journey, which brought him to study in various European countries and the United States and culminated with postgraduate studies at the European University Institute in Fiesole, Florence. His professional steps after graduating took him to Canterbury in the UK and Rome as Director of Higher Education in charge of the academic and organisational development of a newly established university in Tanzania

Andreas reflects on the vital role IAU plays in fostering global dialogue and collaboration among universities, addressing key challenges like those related to the SDGs, articulating the continued value and relevance of higher education in today’s fast changing world, and overcoming competition in an increasingly commodified international higher education landscape. He also emphasizes the importance of adopting fair, ethical approaches to internationalization, advocating for the equitable circulation of knowledge, students… and shares the memorable experience of an elderly man in Kenya showing him the tree under which he received his first formal education, which reminded him of education’s critical role in nurturing curiosity and passing knowledge from one generation to the next.