Maria Helena Nazaré began her academic pathways in Mozambique in 1973 lecturing at the Eduardo Mondlane University. Before she developed a special interest in Physics, she spent three years at the King’s College, in London, as a PhD student, concluding her doctorate in 1978. In 1986, she undertook the leadership of the semiconductor spectroscopy research group of the Physics Department, at the Aveiro University, in Portugal. She was the Head of the Physics Department of the Aveiro University between 1978 and 1980 and, again between 1988 and 1990. From 1990 to 1991, she became the Vice-President of the Scientific Council and the Vice-Rector of the Aveiro University, a position she held until 1998. She has developed long standing activity in Higher Education Management at the Aveiro University, as well as in performing other functions, both internally and internationally. Between 2002 and 2010, she was the Rector of the Aveiro University and the Chairman of the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee of the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities and a member of the research group of the European University Association (EUA) Since 2004, she has been a member of the EUA – Institucional Evaluation Programme (IEP) and has been participating in the assessment of universities in Spain, Turkey, Palestine, Slovenia and Kazakhstan. In 2009, she was appointed Vice-President of the EUA. At the OECD, she conducted evaluations in Cataluña and Lombardy and at the ENQA, she conducted evaluations at universities in Galicia and Finland. Currently, she is Coordinator for the 3rd Permanent Specialized Committee in the National Education Board, a member of the Board of Directors of Portugal Telecom, the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Galp Energia Foundation and the Chairman of the Portuguese Physics Society.