The Chair of the Board of Governors for 2006-2007 is the Ambassador and Resident Representative of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Ernest Petrič. He succeeded the Governor of Japan, Mr. Yukiya Amano.
Mr. Petrič took up his current assignment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Austria and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna in September 2002.
Born in 1936 in Slovenia, Mr. Petrič holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana.
Before Mr. Petrič started his diplomatic career, he was a professor of international relations and international law, Head of Department of Political Sciences and International Relations of Ljubljana University, Director of the Research Institute and Dean of the Faculty of Sociology, Political Sciences and Journalism. From 1983 to 1986, he was a professor of international relations and international law at the University of Addis Ababa.
Mr. Petrič joined the diplomatic service as the Ambassador of Yugoslavia to India and Nepal (1989-1991). After Slovenia gained independence, he was accredited Ambassador of Slovenia to the United States of America (1991-1997) and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico.
Mr. Petrič has extensive experience and knowledge in multilateral diplomacy. From 1997 to 2000 he held the position of State Secretary responsible for multilateral issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. During Slovenia's term in the UN Security Council (1998/99) he directed the UN Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. He served as the Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations in New York and as non-resident Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Brazil (2000-2002). Ambassador Petrič was also accredited as Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna (2002-2003).
Mr. Petrič has been Slovenia's Governor on the IAEA Board of Governors since March 2006 and deputy Governor since September 2005.