Academician Marius Andruh, one of the most respected Romanian chemists of the last decades, was elected on Tuesday, April 7, at the head of the Romanian Academy, after obtaining 84 “yes” votes out of 157 cast in the second round of voting. Andruh is also the voice that confirmed Victor Ponta’s plagiarism in 2012.
His election marks an important moment for the most prestigious institution of culture and science in Romania.
Academic training and beginnings
Marius Andruh was born on July 15, 1954, in Smeeni commune, Buzau county. He graduated from the “BP Hasdeu” High School in Buzău in 1973, and later attended the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Bucharest, specializing in Inorganic Chemistry, which he completed in 1979.
In 1988, he obtained his doctorate in chemistry under the supervision of the renowned researcher Maria Brezeanu, and in the following years he continued his training through postdoctoral internships in Paris (1991) and Göttingen, as an Alexander von Humboldt scholar (1992–1993), according to Wikipedia.
Professional career and teaching activity
In the first years after graduation, Andruh worked in production and research: three years at IPRS-Băneasa (1979–1982) and two years at the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Bucharest.
From 1984 he entered the university environment, within the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Bucharest. He became a professor in 1996, and between 2003 and 2019 he headed the department. He also taught abroad, being an associate professor at the University of Québec in Montréal (1994–1996) and visiting professor at numerous European and international universities, from Bordeaux and Strasbourg to Manchester, Jena, Valencia or Rio de Janeiro.
He is the co-author of chemistry textbooks for middle and high school, used by entire generations of students.
Outstanding scientific contributions
Marius Andruh is considered a pioneer in the field of polynuclear complex combination chemistry and supramolecular chemistry. His research interests include: supramolecular architectures and crystal engineering, molecular magnetism, 3d–4f hetero-polynuclear complexes, luminescent molecular materials, systems with three different spin carriers
He developed original strategies for obtaining coordination polymers and described new structural typologies. Together with his team, he synthesized the first one-dimensional molecular nano-magnets with three different metal ions.
The President of CNATDCU resigned, after the Minister of Education made changes at the level of the institution
His laboratory was part of the European network of excellence MAGMANet, and Andruh was a member of the Board of Directors of the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism.
With over 325 scientific articles, five book chapters and over 10,000 citations, he is one of the most influential contemporary Romanian chemists (h-index: 51–56, depending on the database).
The role in the Romanian Academy
Full member of the Romanian Academy since 2009, Marius Andruh has held the position of vice-president of the institution since 2022 and is the president of the Chemical Sciences Section. In 2021, he became the director of the “CD Nenițescu” Institute of Organic and Supramolecular Chemistry.
His election as president of the Romanian Academy confirms his prestige in the academic and scientific environment, but also the confidence of the academic community in his ability to lead the institution at a time when research and education need visibility and support.
Ponta’s plagiarism brought him into the middle of a scandal
Beyond his academic prestige, Marius Andruh came to the attention of the general public in June 2012, when, as president of the General Council of CNATDCU, he announced the verdict on the doctoral thesis of the then prime minister, Victor Ponta, according to Edupedu
“It’s copy-paste plagiarism“, Andruh declared at that time, emphasizing that the analysis was carried out “page by page”with professional rigor, without evaluating the candidate’s original contributions, an aspect that is not part of the commission’s duties.
A month later, in July 2012, the Ethics Commission of the University of Bucharest – then led by rector Mircea Dumitru, today vice-president of the Romanian Academy and Andruh’s counter-candidate in the elections for the presidency of the institution – confirmed the conclusion of plagiarism.
In 2016, Victor Ponta’s doctorate was withdrawn, but the decision was annulled in 2022 by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, after the Constitutional Court limited the powers of CNATDCU in the evaluation of doctoral theses.
In 2017, he resigned from CNATDCU, after the Minister of Education made changes at the level of the institution
In 2017, Marius Andruh announced that he resigned from the National Council for Attestation of University Titles, Diplomas and Certificates (CNATDCU), after Pavel Năstase, the then Minister of Education, changed the structure of the General Council of CNATDCU, as well as the commissions within the institution.
The academic stated that he is not only leaving the position of president of the National Council for Attestation of University Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates (CNATDCU), but also from the institution as a whole.
