University Chancellor of Sweden, Head of Högskoleverket (The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education), Sweden.

Lars Haikola has been the University Chancellor of Sweden and Head of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education since 2010. The task of the Agency is mainly to review the quality of higher education, monitor trends and developments in higher education, ensure that universities comply with legislation and regulations, and also to promote the equal treatment of students irrespective of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. Lars Haikola has been an executive leader in many academic fields in different positions at Lund University, for example as Dean of the School of Education and as Director of the International Office. From 2001 - 2007 he was the vice-chancellor of Blekinge Institute of Technology. He achieved his PhD in Philosophy of Religion at Lund University 1977 where he is also an associate professor. His scholarly interests are focused on Science & Religion, Ethics & Ecology, and Multi-Faith – Ideological Pluralism. He has chaired several audit- and accreditation groups assessing universities since 1995. Between 1998  and 2005 he was the chairman of the Council for the Renewal of Higher Education in Sweden. He chaired the merger of Växjö University and Kalmar University to become Linnaeus University in 2009. He has been the Chairman of the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies since 2008 and was vice-president of Telecom City, Karlskrona, Sweden, from 2001 to 2007. In all his arenas he has acted for the integration of gender and equality in academic affairs. Among his latest publications are How to Conduct Solo-artists. About Governance and Leadership at Lund University, 2000, Science, Religion and the Need of a World-View, Pretoria 2003.

Dr Haikola chaired the Session C5: EMBEDDING GENDER IN THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM Improving professional competency of researchers at the Gender Summit 1 EU (GS1EU).