Quick Facts
Biography
Nicolae Robu (born May 28, 1955) is a Romanian engineer, politician and owner of ACS Poli Timișoara football club. He served as rector of the Politehnica University of Timișoara from 2004 to 2012, sat in the Senate for Timiș County from 2008 to 2012, and has been mayor of Timișoara since 2012. He is a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL).
Born in Bocsig, Arad County, he attended the Politehnica University of Timișoara from 1975 to 1980, earning a doctorate from the same institution in 1995, in the field of automatic control systems. He worked as an engineer in Timișoara from 1980 to 1985 before becoming a scientific researcher with the Institute for Automation Research and Design in the same city. In 1986, he began teaching at his alma mater, eventually becoming a professor in 1997. He was assistant rector of the university from 1990 to 2004, serving as rector from 2004 to 2012.
In 2008, he was elected to the Romanian Senate for Timiș County; there, he sat on the education committee. He resigned his seat in June 2012. That month, at the local election, he won the race to be mayor of Timișoara while running on the lists of the Social Liberal Union. He took 49.8% of the vote, with his nearest rival winning 23.4%. Within his party, he has headed the Timiș County chapter since 2009, and has sat on the central political bureau since 2011.
Robu is married and has two children.
