Abraham Duarte, new Rector of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
The GRAFO research group congratulates Abraham Duarte, founding member and leading figure of the group, on his election as Rector of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.
On May 6, 2025, Abraham Duarte was elected Rector of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in the second round of voting, securing 50.76% of the votes against 45.27% for his opponent, Fernando García Muiña. Turnout was particularly high among permanent faculty (89.64%) and administrative staff (90.55%).
Abraham Duarte is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and has served for many years as director of the School of Computer Science Engineering (ETSII) at URJC. He is also a founding member and one of the most prominent figures of the GRAFO research group (Group for Research in Algorithms For Optimization), which he has led for over two decades, driving internationally recognized scientific output in the fields of combinatorial optimization and metaheuristics.
From the GRAFO group, we want to extend our warmest congratulations. His exemplary career, leadership skills, and deep commitment to research and teaching make him an outstanding choice to guide the next six years of URJC. We are confident that the university will continue to grow in quality, visibility, and innovative spirit under his tenure.
Congratulations, Abraham!
More information: URJC – Abraham Duarte, new rector
Abraham Duarte
Full Professor
Abraham Duarte is Full Professor in the Computer Science Department at the Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid, Spain). He has done extensive research in the interface between computer science, artificial intelligence, and operations research to develop solution methods based on Computational Intelligence (metaheuristics) for practical problems in operations-management areas such as logistics and supply chains, telecommunications, decision-making under uncertainty and optimization of simulated systems.