Prof. François Boëdec, SJ, has been Rector of Saint Joseph University of Beirut since January 2026. A French Jesuit and holder of a PhD in Political Science from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, he devoted his doctoral dissertation to border conflicts and water sharing between Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, a topic that remains at the heart of his work. His research and teaching focus particularly on Middle Eastern geopolitics, hydropolitics, and public ethics, as well as contemporary spiritual and social issues.His career brings together teaching, research, and academic and Jesuit responsibilities. An Assistant Professor in Political Science at Facultés Loyola Paris, he headed the Department of Public Ethics and International Perspectives before becoming Rector of the institution from 2015 to 2017. He was also an affiliated researcher at Georgetown University in Washington and a Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. From 2017 to 2023, he served as Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of French-speaking Western Europe.His ties with Lebanon and Saint Joseph University of Beirut span more than thirty years. He first taught there in the 1990s and then regularly from 2003 onward in the Department of History – International Relations at the Faculty of Humanities Ramez G. Chagoury. A member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 2022 to 2024, he served as Vice-Rector of USJ and Delegate of the Rector for Human Resources from 2024 to 2025, before being appointed Rector.The author of numerous articles and several books on political, social, international, and spiritual issues, he also served as Editor-in-Chief of Croire Aujourd’hui and as a member of the Editorial Board of Études. His latest book, Comme un long Samedi saint – Libres méditations sur l’Espérance, was published by Éditions Cerf-Loyola in 2025.