László Bruszt is the Director of the CEU Democracy Institute. During the regime change in 1989 he served as National Secretary of the newly formed independent trade unions and represented them in the Roundtable Negotiations. He started to teach at CEU in 1992 and served as its Acting Rector and President in 1996/97. From 2004-2016 he taught at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His publications focus on issues of regime change and economic transformation. His more recent studies deal with the politics of economic integration of the Eastern and Southern peripheries of Europe.