Debbie Jaarsma appointed Dean of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
The Executive Board of Utrecht University has appointed Professor Debbie Jaarsma to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine as of August 1st , 2021. Jaarsma is currently Professor of Research and Innovation in Medical Education at the University of Groningen.
Anton Pijpers, President of the Executive Board, is very pleased with Jaarsma's arrival at Utrecht University. "In my opinion she is really the right woman in the right place! Debbie already knows the faculty well. During her career she has built up an enormous track record in the field of educational innovation, which fits in very well with the ambitions and tradition of our university. She is someone who dares to go off the beaten track. She has also shown that as a manager-administrator she can connect people and make them collaborate. I am convinced that this will not only benefit the faculty, but also the university as a whole, and I am looking forward to working with her."
Debbie Jaarsma (1973) studied veterinary medicine in Ghent and Utrecht from 1992 to 2000. She then gave up her pathology specialization to become a college professor at the HAS University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch (2001-2003). In 2008 Debbie received her PhD in veterinary education in Utrecht. She then became a professor at the University of Amsterdam. And since 2014 she holds the chair of Research and Innovation in Medical Education in Groningen and leads the research group LEARN (Lifelong Learning Education and Assessment Research Network).
"It is a great honour for me to be leading the faculty in this role, together with the faculty board and three newly formed departments", says Jaarsma . "I am greatly looking forward to working with former colleagues and to meeting new ones . To, together, take up and fulfil the beautiful ambitions of the faculty and university. After ten years of working in two different University Medical Centres, it feels good to be able to return to veterinary medicine; my first professional identity!"