Isabel Capeloa Gil is the 6th Rector of the Portuguese Catholic University, a position she has held since 2016. She is also President of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC), since 2018.

Professor of Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Lisbon, she graduated in Modern Languages ​​and Literature at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon and holds a Master’s Degree in German Studies from the same institutions. She studied at Ludwig Maximilian University, in Munich, and at the University of Chicago, in Chicago, obtaining a PhD in German Studies at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Lisbon, of which she was director between 2005 and 2012. Her research work has contributed to defining the field of Cultural Studies. In university management, she has stood out in the development of the University’s internationalization and research strategy, of which she was Vice-Dean between 2012 and 2016 and responsible for the areas of Research and Internationalization.

She belongs to and has held management positions in several national and international scientific associations, most notably ICLA (International Comparative Literature Association) and ICA (International Communication Association). She is also a member of the European Council of Foreign Relations, of the Advisory Board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and President of the Board of Directors of the UCP Foundation.