Hall of Fame
Utrecht University is proud of each and every one of its graduates, and alumni are an important part of Utrecht University's academic community. But where do they all end up? In this section, Illuster presents some major appointments from the last six months.
Dienke Bos
Master’s in Neuroscience and Cognition (2009) has been Director of MIND since 1 June. Bos was executive director of the YOUth research programme at Utrecht University and
UMC Utrecht.
Jan Derck van Karnebeek
Master’s in Law (1990) has been appointed CEO of Koninklijke FrieslandCampina N.V.
René Medema
PhD in Biomedical Sciences (1993) has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of the Princes Máxima Centrum in Utrecht. He will start work on 1 April 2024.
Anjet Daanje
MSc in Mathematics (1991) last year won the Beste Groninger Boek prize and the Libris Literature Prize for Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris and the Constantijn Huygens Prize for her oeuvre.
Walter Oostelbos
MA in History (1988) was sworn in as ambassador to the Netherlands in Surinam and Guyana in March.
Diet Groothuis
MA in Literary Studies (1989) won the Frater Willibrordus Prize for her description of a late swift in the radio programme Vroege Vogels [Early birds].
Michiel Scheffer
Master’s in Human Geography (1988) and PhD in Geography (1992) has been appointed by the European Commission as first Chair of the European Innovation Council.
Dennis Hesseling
Master’s in Mathematics (1994) and PhD in Mathematics (1999) was appointed Head of Gas, Coal & Power at the International Energy Agency (IEA, Paris) on 1 July.
Maurice Unck
Master’s in Law (1998) will start work as director of Mail Nederland, the postal arm of PostNL, on 1 January 2024.
Hella Hueck
Master’s in Law is to be appointed chief editor of Elsevier Weekblad (EW) on 1 January 2024.
Herman van der Zandt
MA in Law (1998)is leaving NOS after 23 years to present De Slimste Mens for public broadcaster KRO-NCRV.
Paul Huisman
Master's in Public Administration and Policy (2013) has been appointed regional manager for the Drenthe branch of the Salvation Army.
Niko Wanders
PhD in Physical Geography (2015) was one of five Utrecht University staff members to receive a €1.5 million European Research Council Starting Grant for research.
Ferry Hagen
PhD in Life Sciences (2011) has been named Professor by Special Appointment in Fungal Functional Diversity at the University of Amsterdam.
Sjon Hartman
Sjon Hartman, Bachelor's in Biology (2013), Master's in Environmental Biology (2015) and PhD in Biology (2020) has been named Junior Professor at the University of Freiburg.
Joost de Vries
Master's in History won the Frans Kellendonk Prize for his literary oeuvre, which includes Clausewitz (2010), De Republiek (2013), Oude Meesters (2017) and Rustig aan,Tijger (2020). The prize is awarded every three years by the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.
De Vries studied journalism at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and history at Utrecht University. He has been editor and literary critic of De Groene Amsterdammer since 2007 and is now also deputy chief editor. He has also written for, among others, Das Magazine and nrc.next.
The nominating committee for the Frans Kellendonk Prize has this to say about him: “Joost de Vries boldly entered the world of Dutch literature with his debut novel Clausewitz (2010). His theme was very different from what was and still is usual in Dutch novel-writing. In this novel you could see the outlines of the tragic attitude to life that also characterises the later works of De Vries. His characters are fleeing from themselves and deny that this is the case. In this regard, De Vries’ work belongs to the great tradition of Romanticism.”
Want to be 'named'?
Email us your new position at alumni@uu.nl. Who knows? You could see yourself in the next edition of Illuster.