A Visit by Her Excellency President Katalin Novák of Hungary

For the first time in its history, Benedictine College is pleased to welcome a visiting foreign head of state, Her Excellency President Katalin Novák of Hungary. President Novák will be on the campus in Atchison, Kansas, on Monday, September 26, 2022, for a private visit with students at the college.

President Novák was elected as the President of the Republic of Hungary in March of this year and took office on May 10, 2022. She is the youngest president of the country at 45 and is also the first woman to hold the office.

Katalin Novák was born in Szeged. She completed her university studies at the University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration of Budapest and at the University of Szeged, and also studied in Paris with a scholarship. Professionally, she is an economist.

She began her career in government service in 2001 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After spending six years at home raising her children, she returned as an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and then became the Head of Cabinet of Minister Zoltán Balog at the Ministry of Human Capacities. From 2014 to 2020 she was Secretary of State for Family and Youth Affairs, and then served as Minister for Families. She has been a member of the Hungarian National Assembly since 2018.

She has lived and worked in the United States, France and Germany. In addition to her mother tongue, she is fluent in English, French and German and conversational Spanish. She is married and is the mother of two boys and a girl.