Attila Vidnyánszky

Attila Vidnyánszky, director of Hungary's National Theatre, was elected on 31 July 2020 as chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation set up to run the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) as part of the government's 'model change' program, which moved the university from state to foundation control. According to the SZFE senate, the board pushed through founding documents that eliminated essentially every element of institutional autonomy: the university could no longer decide its own operating rules, budget or development plan, nor elect its rector or appoint department heads. The senate said this was done without the consultation the ministry had previously promised. The decision triggered mass resignations from the senate, faculty protests, and a months-long student occupation of the university building in autumn 2020. Vidnyánszky was removed as board chairman in September 2026 after a summer law change gave the education minister founder-rights control over boards at foundation-run universities; he was succeeded by film scholar András Bálint Kovács.