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Professor Wim van de Donk appointed as Rector Magnificus and President of the Executive Board

Published: 17th January 2020 Last updated: 27th October 2020

Professor Wim van de Donk will become the new Rector Magnificus and President of the Executive Board of Tilburg University, effective November 19, 2020.

He will thus succeed President Professor Koen Becking, who will then have reached the end of his second term of office, and Rector Professor Klaas Sijtsma, who held this position ad interim since September 1, 2019. The Board of Governors has decided this on the recommendation of the selection committee and having heard the University Council and the Deans. The appointment is for a period of four years.

Wim van de Donk (1962) began his academic career in 1986 at Tilburg University, received his PhD here in 1997, and has worked as Professor of Social Public Administration at Tilburg Law School since 2000. Wim van de Donk is currently the King’s Commissioner in the Province of North Brabant and was President of the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid, WRR) between 2004 and 2009.

 

wim van de donk


In the Province of North Brabant, Tilburg University is one of the pearls that we are very proud of, a university in a bustling, blossoming city.

 

Photographer: Marc Bolsius

Hugo Reumkens, chairman of the Board of Governors: 'We are very pleased with this appointment  and with Wim van de Donk’s decision to accept the position of Rector Magnificus and President of the Executive Board. Van de Donk is of Tilburg University stock and is a professor highly esteemed by students and colleagues alike. He is a natural connection maker and with his vast political-administrative experience, he is eminently capable of fulfilling the function of Rector and President of the Executive Board. The Board of Governors has every confidence that Van de Donk, together with Paulina Snijders as Vice-President of the Executive Board and a Vice-Rector to be appointed, can successfully continue Tilburg University’s strategy and further strengthen the University’s connection with its environment.' 

Wim van de Donk`s response

Van de Donk: ‘Serving Brabant as the King’s Commissioner is a great job in a very special province. After eleven years, something has come my way to which I have wholeheartedly said yes, although I do not wish to conceal the fact that it will be hard for me to say goodbye to my wonderful present office in the Province of North Brabant. However, in that province, Tilburg University is one of the pearls that we are very proud of, a university in a bustling, blossoming city. The importance of sound academic education and research is hard to underestimate, and Tilburg University is a leading institution at regional, national, European, and international levels that has the privilege of educating and training many young people from all over the world for meaningful and responsible positions in our society. I am grateful for the years that I was privileged to serve as King’s Commissioner, and for the prospect of a very honorable and wonderful new job within Tilburg University as of October 1. I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues in what has always been my academic home. I want to thank the Board of Governors, the University Council, the selection committee, and the Deans for their trust in me and I look forward to productive and pleasant collaboration!’

Note to editors

Contact 

For more information, please contact Tilburg University spokesperson Tineke Bennema, email persvoorlichters@tilburguniversity.edu, tel. 06 19678521 or the spokesperson of the Province of North Brabant Arnoud Reijnen, tel. 06 18303132.