István Horváth, born in 1966, is a professor at the Hungarian Language Sociology and Social Work Department of the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj/Kolozsvár and head of the Romanian Institute for Research on Minorities.
He completed a BA in philosophy and Sociology in 1991 and a PhD in the philosophy of history in 2002 at the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj. He is a scholar focusing on various aspects of ethnic and ethno-linguistic relations, with a special focus on multilingualism, linguistic diversity management, and ethnic migration. He also offers structured insights into post-communist ethno-political dynamics in Romania and Eastern Europe. In these fields, Horváth published books and articles in English, Hungarian, and Romanian.
He has made noteworthy contributions to discussion of the post-communist institutionalization of the field of research on ethnic, ethno-linguistic, and ethno-politic diversity management for Romania by initiating series of lectures and founding and/or heading NGO-based or public research institutions (he is the first head of RIRNM founded in 2007).
