Ecaterina Andronescu (; born 7 April 1948) is a Romanian engineer, professor, and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), she sat in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies from 1996 to 2008, representing Bucharest, and was a Senator from 2008 until 2020, for the same city. In the Adrian Năstase cabinet, she was Education Minister from 2000 until June 2003. She held the same position in the cabinet of Emil Boc from 2008 to 2009, in the Victor Ponta cabinet during 2012, and finally in the Viorica Dăncilă cabinet for under 9 months between November 2018 and August 2019. She is married and has one child. Profile at the Romanian Government site ; accessed 19 September 2009 Before her political career, she was the dean of the Industrial Chemistry Faculty at the Politehnica University of Bucharest from 1992 to 2004, and the university's rector from 2004 to 2012.
Biography
Background and first ministerial position She was born in Malovăț, Mehedinți County and became an engineer in 1972 upon graduation from the Oxidic Materials Science and Engineering department of the Politehnica University of Bucharest's Industrial Chemistry Faculty. In 1982, she earned a doctorate in the same field, and pursued further studies in Western Europe in the 1990s. From 1972 to 1983, she was an assistant lecturer at Politehnica, then lecturer from 1983 to 1990. From 1990 to 1994 she was a reader there, and she has been a professor at the same institution since 1994. From 1989 to 1992, she was assistant dean of the Industrial Chemistry Faculty, and dean from 1992 to 2004. She became the university's rector in 2004, serving until 2012. Cristina Olivia Moldovan, "Mihnea Costoiu, omul de încredere al Ecaterinei Andronescu, noul rector al Politehnicii" ("Mihnea Costoiu, Confidant of Ecaterina Andronescu, New Politehnica Rector"), Evenimentul Zilei, 23 March 2012; accessed 2 December 2012 She has published over 155 scientific works in specialty journals in Romania and abroad; had over 60 scientific research contracts, including abroad; published three books; and has been awarded a patent.
In 1996, Andronescu joined the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR; PSD since 2001). She had been a secretary of state at the Education Ministry since the preceding year, and at the autumn 1996 elections (which the PDSR lost), she gained a seat in the Chamber and left the ministry. Until 2000, she was secretary of its committee on education, science and youth, continuing as a member until 2008. 2000-2004 Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site ; accessed 19 September 2009 2004-2008 Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site ; accessed 19 September 2009 Re-elected in 2000, she was appointed to the incoming Năstase cabinet, serving until 2003, when Alexandru Athanasiu replaced her.
As minister, she took a number of controversial decisions, including the reintroduction of a required examination for entering university faculties; changing of the modality of admission to high schools; and a change in the method for correcting the baccalaureate. Critics charged that these "experiments" had introduced "anachronism and chaos" into the Romanian educational system, perturbing both pupils and teachers, "Tineretul PD solicită 6% din PIB pentru Școală" ("PD Youth Seeks 6% of GDP for Schools") , Ziua, 20 June 2003; accessed 20 September 2009 and Andronescu's reputed inability to justify and sustain her decisions earned her the nickname of Abramburica (a coined term mixing abracadabra and brambura, "aimless"). Ciprian Ciucu, "Între Abramburica și Ecaterina Andronescu" ("Between Abramburica and Ecaterina Andronescu"), Observator Cultural, Nr. 459, January 2009; accessed 20 September 2009
Opposition and return to government She was again elected to the Chamber in 2004, and to the Senate in 2008. Election results , alegeri.tv; accessed 19 September 2009 During the latter campaign, she charged the incumbent National Liberal Party (PNL) government with immorality, corruption and incompetence regarding education, and touted her 2001–2003 efforts to introduce computers into classrooms and build gyms; these two programmes were themselves criticised at the end of 2004, after the PSD had been voted out of office, for the computerisation effort's weak results and for both having been undertaken after no-bid contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. Raluca Alexandrescu, "Meșterul Manole, Miorița și 'societatea cunoașteri'" ("Meșterul Manole, Miorița, and the 'Information Society'") , Revista 22, 29 October 2008; accessed 20 September 2009 Additionally, during 2008, she initiated a law raising teachers' salaries by 50%; this measure won unanimous parliamentary approval. Alexandra-Livia Dordea, "Ecaterina Andronescu Revine la Educație" ("Ecaterina Andronescu Returns as Education Minister"), Evenimentul Zilei, 17 December 2008; accessed 20 September 2009
Following her election to the Senate, where she served on the culture committee until 2010, also becoming vice president of the education committee in 2009, 2008-2012 Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site ; accessed 19 September 2009 she was named Education Minister once again. "Guvern de regățeni, cu 'moț' ardelean" ("Old Kingdom Government, with a Few Transylvanians") , Adevărul, 19 December 2008; accessed 19 September 2009 During this cabinet stint, Andronescu again attracted controversy. In May 2009, the authors of the nationwide high school admission test made two errors when writing the questions, prompting the resignation of two Education Ministry employees, "Ministerul Educaţiei a acceptat demisia persoanelor responsabile de gafa din teza unică la Istorie" ("Education Ministry Accepts Resignation of Persons Involved in History Test Gaffe"), Realitatea TV, 22 May 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 and contributing to worries among PSD leaders that Andronescu was damaging their party's image. She later indicated a willingness to scrap the test in its current form, citing unpopularity among teachers. "Andronescu: Toată lumea din teritoriu este împotriva tezelor unice" ("Andronescu: the Whole Country Is against the Single Thesis"), Mediafax, 24 August 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 That July, she announced her ministry would no longer issue diplomas for the private Spiru Haret University (and might seek its outright closure), claiming that institution had failed to undergo accreditation and authorisation for its offerings. Raul Florea, "Universităţile 'Spiru Haret' şi 'Petre Andrei' au fost scoase în afara legii. 56.000 de absolvenţi, în aer. Andronescu, pentru Gândul: 'Aceste diplome nu respectă legea'" ("Spiru Haret and Petre Andrei Universities Now Extralegal. 56,000 Graduates, up in the Air. Andronescu, for Gândul: 'These Diplomas Do Not Respect the Law'"), Gândul, 11 July 2009; accessed 19 September 2009 This action reportedly displeased PSD president Mircea Geoană for not being cleared with him in advance; Roxana Preda, "PSD nu o lasă din braţe pe Ecaterina Andronescu" ("PSD Does Not Drop Ecaterina Andronescu from Its Arms"), Evenimentul Zilei, 19 July 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 the university itself took the government to court and won the right to continue operations. "Universitatea 'Spiru Haret' a câștigat primul proces cu Guvernul. Guvernul are dreptul să facă recurs" ("Spiru Haret University Wins First Suit against the Government, Which May Appeal"), Gândul, 14 August 2009; accessed 20 September 2009
She worked on pushing a new educational code through Parliament, but the PSD's former government partner, the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), has its own proposals; despite her expressed wish, the debate became entangled in the autumn presidential campaign, where the parties are supporting rival candidates. Eugenia Mihalcea, "Guvernul, rupt în două de legile educaţiei" ("Government Split in Two by Education Laws") , Jurnalul Naţional, 19 August 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 Monica Iordache Apostol, "Sparge Educația buba Coaliției?" ("Will Education Break the Coalition?") , Jurnalul Național, 20 August 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 In September, Prime Minister Boc threatened Andronescu with dismissal if she did not annul an order allowing the Education Minister (as opposed to school inspectors) the power to change school directors; she countered that this would decrease the politicisation of the process, while Geoană commented that Boc alone could not dismiss her without consulting his party. Eugenia Mihalcea, "Ecaterina Andronescu, amenințată de Boc" ("Ecaterina Andronescu, Threatened by Boc") , Jurnalul Național, 19 September 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 Boc's move followed rising discontent with her within the PDL, whose members Ioan Oltean and Radu Berceanu suggested that Andronescu herself was trying to politicise the educational process. Izabela Niculescu, "Ecaterina Andronescu – Oltean îi cere demisia, Berceanu îi bate obrazul" ("Ecaterina Andronescu – Oltean Asks for Her Resignation, Berceanu Slaps Her Cheek"), Cotidianul, 4 September 2009; accessed 20 September 2009 The PDL also suggested that Andronescu's proposals aimed at sabotaging Boc's own reform project, which the party claimed was addressing the fundamental issues. Together with her PSD colleagues, Andronescu resigned from the cabinet on 1 October 2009, in protest at the dismissal of vice prime minister and Interior Minister Dan Nica. "Miniștrii PSD şi-au depus demisiile la cabinetul premierului Emil Boc" ("PSD Ministers Submit Their Resignations in the Office of Prime Minister Emil Boc"), Mediafax, 1 October 2009; accessed 1 October 2009 Boc himself took over her ministry, on an interim basis. "Premierul Boc a anunțat interimarii PDL pentru ministerele PSD" ("Prime Minister Boc Announces Interim PDL Ministers for PSD Ministries"), Mediafax, 1 October 2009; accessed 1 October 2009
Plagiarism controversy and subsequent developments