Rector of the University of A Coruña since January 2012.

Born in Coruña, Xosé Luís Armesto Barbeito holds a doctorate in Chemistry and a Master's degree in Environmental Science and Engineering. He has written a number of books and papers on the chemistry of N-halo compounds and on the chemical and photochemical processes of decay in herbicides and pesticides.

He was appointed Professor of Chemical Physics in the Faculty of Science.

He was Director of the University College of A Coruña prior to the creation of the three independent Galician universities, and Dean of the Faculty of Science. He was appointed Vice-President of Teaching and Learning in 2004.