Professor A. (Tom) Veldkamp will remain rector magnificus of the University of Twente for the next four years. The Supervisory Board has decided on his reappointment, which takes effect on 1 October 2024. Veldkamp has been part of the UT's Executive Board since 2020, which further consists of Vinod Subramaniam (chair) and Machteld Roos (vice chair).
The Supervisory Board is pleased with the reappointment: Chair Sylvia Butzke: “Over the past period, we discussed the intention to reappoint with all deans and the University Council. This resulted in a unanimously positive recommendation. That is a great compliment for the work Tom has done over the past four years, and one that the Supervisory Board is pleased to endorse. It is important that there is strong support for the rector magnificus, who, in a way, fulfils the role of the university's conscience.
We are convinced that Tom, together with all colleagues at UT, will lead the university into a bright future. That task will certainly not be easy, but the current foundation gives a lot of confidence that challenges such as finance and internationalisation, as well as further shaping the contours of the fourth-generation university, are in good hands.”
Tom Veldkamp is looking forward to continuing his work as rector: “I am excited about the prospect of continuing my work for the next four years. We are working together on something extremely valuable and every day I have conversations, which remind me of that. I feel the enormous motivation and drive of our staff for good teaching, research and innovation and also see how that has led to the great university we are today. We can be proud of where we are: our students give our education positive feedback, placing us among the best-rated universities in the country. We have scientists who are among the top in their fields, and we also have a culture where collaboration is key and staff and students are valued for who they are and what they do.
The challenges we face as a university in the coming period are certainly not easy. But I look ahead with confidence, knowing that we are an entrepreneurial university where new ideas and solutions are always emerging. However, we do need to focus. We will have to future-proof our teaching and research, to continue doing what we most want to do and what we are good at. No one has an exact winning formula on how to do this, but I would like to explore this together with all UT staff: with a vision on education and research as a starting point, making the necessary choices together. I would like to thank the Supervisory Board for the trust they express and the opportunity they offer me to do my part in this, and I look forward to the upcoming period.”
CV
Tom Veldkamp (1963) studied and received his PhD from Wageningen University, where he was appointed professor and head of the Department of Soil Inventory and Land Evaluation (later Chair Land Dynamics) in 2002. From 2010, he was dean of the Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) at the University of Twente.
