Geologist, academician, university professor, who happens to be a relative of newly appointed minister of interior, Mihály Pósfai was elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) at the scientific body’s 200th general assembly on Tuesday.
Mihály Pósfai’s field of research is mineralogy, specifically the study of the properties and formation of magnetic nanocrystals formed in living organisms.
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Mihály Pósfai was born on April 19, 1963, in Szombathely (western Hungary). He earned his degree in geology from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 1987 and, as a doctoral fellow at ELTE’s Department of Mineralogy, focused on the crystal structure of sulfide minerals. He subsequently participated in a postgraduate program in environmental science at Central European University, then continued his studies for several months as a fellow at Stockholm University. In 1992, he earned a PhD in Earth Sciences; in 2004, he became a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA); and in 2005, he completed his habilitation at the University of Veszprém. He has been an associate professor since 1994 and, since 2006, a professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Pannon University in Veszprém.
Between 1992 and 1998, he spent an extended period in the United States, working for more than four years in the Department of Geology and the electron microscopy laboratory at Arizona State University. In 2004 and 2005, he spent several months at the University of Cambridge as a visiting researcher.
His research primarily covers two quite distinct areas of environmental mineralogy: he investigates the formation of biogenic magnetic minerals and studies the properties of unique atmospheric aerosol particles. By examining unique particles, he has contributed to a deeper understanding of the climatic effects of atmospheric aerosols. He has published nearly 200 scientific papers and studies.
He was elected a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in 2010 and a full member in 2016. He is a full member of the Academia Europaea.
In 2014, he chaired the Veszprém Regional Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA).
In addition to numerous professional accolades, he received the Széchenyi Professorial Fellowship in 2000, was named a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America in 2010, and was awarded the Academy Prize. In 2016, he received the Széchenyi Prize in the field of environmental mineralogy, primarily in recognition of his results related to the study of magnetic minerals formed in living organisms, as well as his scientific and teaching activities, which are highly regarded internationally. In 2026, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (Civil Division).
Alongside Pósfai, archaeologist László Borhy, biologist Ádám Miklósi, and chemist András Perczel ran for the presidency.
The new president’s term is for three years.
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences announced that Gábor Kecskeméti has been appointed secretary general and Ilona Kovács deputy secretary general.
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Mihály Pósfai is the cousin of Gábor Pósfai, a Hungarian economist and businessman who rose to prominence as a long-time Decathlon executive before entering politics as the operational director of Péter Magyar’s TISZA Party; he was elected to the National Assembly in 2026 and appointed Minister of the Interior in the incoming government. The family connection between the politician-businessman and the prominent academic has drawn media attention amid the TISZA Party’s rapid political ascent.
Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: mta.hu/Szigeti Tamás
