Ursula Rao Begins Tenure as Managing Director

On 1 February 2021, Ursula Rao begins her term as the new Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. She takes over from Marie-Claire Foblets, who has performed this function since July 2015. Ursula Rao joined the MPI in April 2020 as the Director of the new Department ‘Anthropology of Politics and Governance’ after heading the Institute of Anthropology at Leipzig University for 8 years.

“I want to express my gratitude Marie-Claire Foblets for her hard work running the Institute with skill and foresight for the last five years as Managing Director”, Ursula Rao says. The Institute is currently in the middle of a transition period, after Biao Xiang and Ursula Rao took up their appointments as Directors in 2020. Ursula Rao: “This process has gone smoothly thanks to Marie-Claire Foblets’s efforts in looking out for the Institute during this crucial time. Now it is up to all three Departments to develop a shared vision for the future – continuing the tradition of exceptional research while embarking on new paths.”