President of the Republic Petr Pavel today appointed Martin Klimánek as the new Rector of Mendel University in Brno at Prague Castle. Klimánek, who has until now served as Vice-Rector for Strategy, Sustainability and Contract Activities, will assume office on 31 March, becoming the university’s 35th rector. He was elected by the Academic Senate at the beginning of November. The term of office is four years.
The new rector’s field of expertise is applied geoinformatics in precision forestry. He has been part of the university’s leadership since 2014, when he was first appointed Vice-Rector. Over three terms, he has been responsible for education, and later for strategy, development, special-purpose facilities, and sustainability. “We are living in a very turbulent time, in which universities represent a pillar of education, stability, and development. It is our mission to create a responsible and sustainable environment within our society and to communicate our goals openly,” Martin Klimánek said previously.
Martin Klimánek was born in Brno in July 1977. He graduated from Matyáš Lerch Grammar School in Brno and then enrolled at the former Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, studying Forest Engineering. During his studies, he worked for the Forest Management Institute and subsequently for a company specializing in the preparation of forest management plans and guidelines for forest owners.
Professionally, he focuses on applied geoinformatics in precision forestry and support for spatial decision-making. His work has also addressed digital terrain modelling and topographic modelling, spatial data infrastructure and location-based services, forestry thematic cartography, and the application of unmanned aerial systems in forest planning.
He has been fully employed at the university since 2003. In 2006, he completed his Ph.D. studies and was subsequently appointed Head of the Department of Geoinformation Technologies at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (LDF) of MENDELU. In 2013, he completed his habilitation in the field of Forest Management Planning.
Photo: Tomáš Fongus, Office of the President of the Republic