Alum Hans Versnel obtains his doctorate at age 87

In early November 2025, Hans Versnel defended his thesis on the improvement of kampongs and urban governance in Indonesia. When asked whether or not he is the oldest PhD candidate ever, Versnel answers: “Well, I'm not the oldest, there once was an 89-year old one, I looked that up. But it feels special.”

Alumn Hans Versnel (87) obtained his doctorate at Utrecht University in early November 2025. He was born in Jakarta - still called Batavia back then - and arrived in the Netherlands shortly after the Second World War. In 1962, he started studying sociology in Utrecht. He did much work abroad after that, including in development aid for the World Bank. In the final years of his career, he worked for the municipality of Utrecht as a governance advisor to the municipal executive. Governance issues and life in cities have always captivated him: “I love the city. That's the most beautiful place you can live.”

After his retirement in 2003, Versnel had more time on his hands to go in-depth into what already fascinated him for a long time: Indonesia. The country is in his DNA. During a conference in Surabaya, he was invited to visit a kampong which was improved in colonial times. “I found that to be SO interesting. That stayed chiselled into my brain. I wanted to get to work with those urban politics in Indonesia.” He wrote an article about it, later a chapter for a book. When someone commented this could very well become PhD research, it grew into a bigger project. “I pretty much rolled into it.”

My heart opens up whenever I can do something in Indonesia.

Versnel worked on his thesis for a total of 20 years, sometimes intensively, sometimes not for months, because he also travelled much with his wife. His research shows that decentralisation of governance played a decisive role in the improvement of kampongs, both in the colonial era and in the independent Indonesia.

His wife died in 2019. During one of their travels together, she bought a present in Jakarta for the moment he would obtain his doctorate. When we spoke with him, it was still unopened in the closet. “She would be the most surprised that it succeeded,” he says.

Text: Nancy Anraad
Image: Archive Hans Versnel