Professor Cornel Panait was born on 25 March 1951. He graduated from “Mircea cel Batran” National College in Constanta in 1970. In 1975 he graduated from the Faculty of Electronics at the University Polytehnica of Bucharest.

His academic career started in 1981 as a lecturer in electric systems and mechanisms at “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy in Constanta. Prof. Cornel Panait is one of the founders of the newly established Maritime University in Constanta in 1990 where he began teaching.

In 1999 Prof. Panait was awarded a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the Transilvania University of Brashov. In 2000 he was awarded the degree of assistant professor in electrical engineering and in 2002 became a Professor it the Department of Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering at Constanta Maritime University. From 2004 to 2012 Prof. Panait is the Rector of Constanta Maritime University (CMU).

Since 2012 Prof. Panait has been vice-rector in Institutional Development and International Relations. Currently, chair of the Academic Council and president of the Executive Board of CMU and university representative at the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU). Prof. Panait is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is the author of a very impressive number of publications in the field of electrical engineering.

As a Rector of Constanta Maritime University, Prof. Panait has been actively involved in building professional cooperation with Nikola Y.Vaptsarov Naval Academy.

Prof. Panait received the Doctor Honoris Causa honorary title of Nikola Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy on 26.03.2010.