Dr. Zoltán Szalai is a Germanist, cultural historian and has served as the Director General of Mathias Corvinus Collegium since 2009 and as Editor-in-Chief of Mandiner news magazine since 2017. Under his leadership, MCC has grown into one of Europe's largest educational institutions and research centers. Dr. Szalai has written extensively on a range of topics, with a particular focus on the philosophy of Vilmos Szilasi and Martin Heidegger. He is also chairman of the supervisory board of Libri -Bookline Plc.

He holds a Master's degree in German language and literature with secondary school teaching qualification from Eötvös Loránd University, a Master's degree in Human Resource Counselling from the University of Pécs, and a “summa cum laude” Ph.D degree from the ELTE Doctoral Program in German Studies. His academic background includes scholarships at universities in Heidelberg, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, London, and Leipzig. He is married and is the father of two sons.