Organisation

Ascola is organized as a democratic association involving a General Assembly and a Board – including an Executive Committee with the President of ASCOLA for the day-to-day-running of the association. The Assembly convenes each year. It elects the Board, including the Executive Committe, for a term of two years. ASCOLA has also asked three directors to perform special tasks. In 2025, ASCOLA established an Honorary Board. The organization is described in a Charter.

The Excecutive Committee

The Executive Committee currently includes six people who run ASCOLA on a daily basis. The ASCOLA President is Professor Peter Picht of the University of Zurich (Switzerland). He was elected in 2025 after having served as an ASCOLA Vice-President for Finances. Before that professors Rupprecht Podszun (2023-2025), Michal Gal (2016-2023), Paul Nihoul (2013-2016) and Josef Drexl (2003-2013) had served as presidents of ASCOLA.

This is the ASCOLA Executive Committee as elected in 2025:

  • Peter Picht (Zurich), President
  • Thomas Cheng (Hong Kong), Vice President
  • Magali Eben (Glasgow), Vice President
  • Giorgio Monti (Tilburg), Vice President
  • Wendy Ng (Melbourne), Vice President for Finances
  • Annika Stöhr (Ilmenau), Vice President

The members of the 2023 Executive Committee: Rupprecht Podszun, Thomas Cheng, Magali, Peter Picht, Wendy Ng and Giorgio Monti (pictured clockwise from upper left).

The Board
The Board is composed of members elected by the members of the association. The composition partly reflects the geographic coverage of the association. Elections are organized on a regular basis. For these elections members can suggest applications.

Members of the Board as elected in 2025 consist of three groups – the members of the Executive Committee, former presidents of ASCOLA, and further members. Also the organiser of the next conference is co-opted as a member.

The members of the Executive Committee:

Peter Picht (President)
Thomas Cheng
Magali Eben
Giorgio Monti
Wendy Ng (Vice-President for Finances)
Annika Stöhr

Former ASCOLA Presidents:

  • Josef Drexl
  • Paul Nihoul
  • Michal Gal
  • Rupprecht Podszun

Further members of the Board (2023 – to be updated):

  • Zeynep Ayata (Turkey)
  • Mor Bakhoum (Senegal)
  • Fabiana Di Porto (Italy)
  • Valeria Falce (Italy)
  • Harry First (USA)
  • Juan David Gutierrez (Colombia)
  • Vikas Kathuria (India)
  • Wolfgang Kerber (Germany)
  • Ioannis Lianos (UK)
  • Bjorn Lundqvist (Sweden)
  • Francisco Marcos (Spain)
  • Jasminka Pecotic Kaufman (Croatia)
  • Danny Sokol (USA)
  • Masako Wakui (Japan)

Spencer Weber Waller (Chicago, USA) is co-opted as the local host of #ASCOLA2025.

Directors

Fabiana Di Porto is the ASCOLA Director responsible for the Best Junior Paper Award.

Viktoria Robertson is the ASCOLA Director for scholarships.

Jurgita Malinauskaite is the ASCOLA Director for mentoring.

Honorary Board

In 2025, the General Assembly decided to establish an Honorary Board to thank long-time members of the Board and former conference hosts for their long-standing commitment to ASCOLA. Membership in the Honorary Board runs for six years and is non-renewable.

The following members were elected in 2025 to the Honorary Board:

As former conference organisers:

  • David Bosco (Aix-en-Provence 2019)
  • Sofia Pais (Porto 2022)
  • Manos Mastromanolis & Alexandra Mikroulea (Athens 2023 – Ioannis Lianos, who was a co-organiser, serves on the Board)
  • Florian Bien & Björn Becker (Würzburg 2024)
  • Spencer Weber Waller (Chicago 2025)

As former long-time members of the Board:

  • Fabiana Di Porto
  • Valeria Falce
  • Harry First
  • Wolfgang Kerber
  • Danny Sokol

ASCOLA is proud to count these distinguished scholars amongst its members and thanks them for their dedication to ASCOLA!

The General Assembly
The General Assembly consists of all members of the association. All members have a similar vote. No difference is made depending on origin of members, or the fee paid by them. As a reminder, fees are discounted for younger academics and for academics coming from lower-income regions. The General Assembly takes place in the course of annual conferences.

 

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