David Dreyer Lassen (51) is a professor of economics and has been prorector for research at the University of Copenhagen since 2021.

According to the KUnet release, it was a unanimous Board that last week appointed David Dreyer Lassen as the next rector of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH):

He gets off to a flying start

Chair of the Board Merete Eldrup

»David Dreyer Lassen comes with extensive national and international experience from academia. He is a widely recognised and well-respected researcher. UCPH will have a visionary and highly strategic-minded leader who has in-depth knowledge of the University’s activities and, not least, interaction with the surrounding society. This insight will get him off to a flying start, and, together with the rest of the Board, I’m looking forward to working with David,« says Merete Eldrup, Chair of the Board on KUnet.

David Dreyer Lassen has been elected as the new rector of UCPH from 1 March 2025, after having been responsible for research at UCPH for a period of four years.

He assumed this position after a few years where there had not been a prorector with direct responsibility for research at UCPH. Prior to Dreyer Lassen, chemistry professor Thomas Bjørnholm held the position as prorector for research and innovation, but when he left the post in 2018, no successor was appointed.

In 2020, the University of Copenhagen opted again to hire a prorector for research to strengthen research and recruitment. At the time, Board member Jesper Grodal explained what was behind the new appointment:

»It’s about recruiting the best staff internationally. And this requires that you have an understanding of how international research works.

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The university found that David Dreyer Lassen had this understanding, and for the past four years he has been responsible for relations with the foundations and the businesses that finance large parts of the university’s research.

World class research is still one of the things that David Dreyer Lassen will focus on in his new role as head of UCPH, he says in the KUnet news release:

»UCPH must be a leading university. This requires us to constantly work to ensure the best possible conditions for new ideas to be tested and explored in all subject areas. Both proven ideas and emerging and unready ideas that are driven by curiosity. The dialogue about this framework must take place with our researchers and research funding providers,« says David Dreyer Lassen.

David Dreyer Lassen founded the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, and in 2016 he won the Elite Researcher Prize, which is awarded by Ministry of Higher Education and Science to Denmark’s most talented researchers. His primary research areas are political economy and digital databases.

David Dreyer Lassen has also been chairman of the board for the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF). When he was appointed to the post in 2019, the former Minister for Higher Education and Science Tommy Ahlers said:

»David is a recognised researcher and has a solid knowledge of the broader field of research and university policy. At the same time, he has practical experience with the research advisory and research financing system. He also has experience from an international research environment. He is a very strong profile, so I am super happy that he has accepted the task.«

The current Rector of the University of Copenhagen, Henrik C. Wegener, is stepping down after an eight-year term as rector, and the University of Copenhagen will welcome David Dreyer Lassen from 1 March.

According to the new rector, one of the most important ambitions for UCPH is to make a clear mark on society:

»At the University of Copenhagen, we need to be better at bringing the things we’re good at out into the world. We have excellent basic research and strong master’s degree and research programmes. We’re proud of that. But it doesn’t stop here. We also want to be a university for those who want to refuel and update their knowledge throughout their lives,« says David Dreyer Lassen in the KUnet news release. He goes on:

»No matter how good it is, research sometimes needs to be helped along to become concrete solutions or innovations. Many of the universities we like to compare against have shown that world-class research, education, innovation and social impact go hand in hand.«

David Dreyer Lassen will be the 260th rector in UCPH history. He has been appointed for a period of five years until 28 February 2030 with an option for a three-year extension.

A rector’s chain transfer ceremony will take place on 4 March 2025.