Prof. Dr. Ivanka Popović was Rector of the University of Belgrade for the term 2018-2021. During her term as rector, the University of Belgrade became a member of the European University Alliance “Circle U.” She is a member of the Board of the European University Association (2021-2025).
Ivanka Popović studied at the University of Maryland, USA, and the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade (FTM). She obtained all of her degrees in chemical engineering (BSc, MSc and PhD) at the FTM. She became a member of the FTM staff in 1983, rose through the academic ranks to the position of full professor and served as the first woman Dean of the Faculty from 2006 to 2012. Her research interests are polymer science and engineering and sustainable development. She was Vice-Rector for Research of the University of Belgrade (2012-2015) and Vice-Rector for International and Inter-University Cooperation (2015-2018).
She headed several national projects of the Serbian Ministry of Science. She headed three projects: for the Recycling Agency of the Republic of Serbia on the possibilities of recycling poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics. She is an UNIDO national expert for Cleaner Production.
Ivanka Popović is the author or co-author of more than 90 papers in international and national scientific journals with a total citation of more than 3000 and h-index of 21 (ORCID iD 0000-0003-3812-3623). She was the first female President of the Serbian Chemical Society (2009 – 2013). She was a member of the Executive Board of the European Association of Chemical and Molecular Sciences.