Professor Sandra Goulart Almeida holds a degree in Languages from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, a master's and a doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. She was visiting scholar at Columbia University, in New York, from 2000-2001. She is a Full Professor of Literary Studies at the Faculty of Letters of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and a CNPq research fellow. She currently holds the position of Rector of UFMG, 2018-2022 and 2022-2026, having been Vice-Rector of the institution, 2014-2018. She was Vice-President of the National Association of Rectors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education (ANDIFES) 2024-2025. She is a member of the National Council of Science and Technology (CCT/MCTI), of the Advisory Board of INEP and of the Special Commission to monitor the implementation of the National Graduate Plan - PNPG - 2025-2029. She is currently President of the Latin American and Caribbean Space for Higher Education (ENLACES) and Vice-President of the Association of Portuguese Language Universities (AULP). She is a member of the Governing Council of the International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC/UNESCO), of the Administrative Council of the International Association of Universities (IAU) and of the Executive Committee of the Association of Ibero-American Graduate Universities (AUIP). She was President of the Tordesillas Group (2024-2025) and of the Montevideo Group University Association (AUGM), for two consecutive terms (2019-2023), and President of the World University Network (WUN), 2022-2024.