Christoph Sextroh

Energetic. That’s Christoph Sextroh (35) in a word. He talks nineteen to the dozen about his work, but also about his other passion: art. He proudly shows off the silkscreens on the wall of his office. Images of a steak and sausages. “Art, like science, studies society. For me, art is a source of inspiration to look at reality in a creative way. Out of the box thinking. As a scientist, you also have to be creative in coming up with solutions. Only the toolbox is different. I don’t have a brush, I have data.”

Sextroh grew up in the German city of Westerstede, near Bremen, an hour’s drive from Groningen. In high school, he was not a nerd (yet). He was a drummer in the Drammerland- Ensemble percussion group, was a member of a local youth parliament, and made movies of pop concerts for local TV. Friends of his became actors, while Sextroh chose the path of science.

Accountancy, his field, fascinates him immensely. “It’s way more than bookkeeping,” he says laughing. “Accountancy is more than just the figures in an annual review. The relevant information may not be in the figures you are looking at, but in the communication around them. The world of financial information has changed dramatically in the last decade and continues to do so. Society expects much more openness from companies. These days, they also communicate their results via Twitter and Facebook. People share their views about companies on social media and on specialized internet forums. The accountant is no longer the clerk who produces the annual financial accounts, but someone who actively understands and manages all the information about and around the company – whether it’s to provide better information or make better decisions.”

He is at home in Tilburg. “The university is an international community, where you keep coming up with new ideas. Everyone here thinks out of the box. The students here are also curious and critical, which makes teaching a pleasure. For me as an academic, it’s not just about producing knowledge, but also about sharing it. Within the field, with society, but certainly with the students, so that they can carry the torch into the future.”

Peter de Jong (previously published in research special TiSEM – New Scientist)

(foto: Bram Belloni)

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