The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Management Board has appointed Dr. Berhard Url Executive Director of the Authority, effective June 1, 2014. A veterinarian by training, Dr. Url has been EFSA's acting Executive Director since September 2013. He joined EFSA in June 2012 as Director of Risk Assessment and Scientific Assistance.
Dr. Url graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna in 1987 and became a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1990. He was an assistant professor at the Institute of Milk Hygiene and Milk Technology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, then Managing Director of the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), prior to joining EFSA. (For more information, see EFSA's press release on his appointment.)