The Minister of Education, Culture and Science has appointed Anton H. Schaaf (b. 1954), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the printing technology company Océ, as the new President of the Supervisory Board of the University of Twente. Schaaf, who is currently a member of the Audit Committee and member of the UT Supervisory Board, will take over as President on 1 April 2015.
Anton Schaaf studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente, and has since held a wide variety of positions all over the world. He has worked for Hollandse Signaal (currently Thales Nederland BV), Philips, Siemens AG and Deutsche Telekom AG. In 2001 he became a member of the Board of Directors of Siemens Communications. He joined Océ in 2006, first as Chief Technology & Operations Officer and Chief Operations Officer. He has been the company’s CEO since April 2012. Océ became a division of the global Canon group in 2010. He is also a member of the board of the STW Technology Foundation.
Anton Schaaf about his appointment: "The University of Twente is a pioneer in entrepreneurship and the application of academic expertise, resulting in numerous start-ups. These new companies use their novel business models and new technologies to help create a better society. The University of Twente needs to rely on this kind of knowledge transfer and business acumen to face the challenges of the future head-on. I am proud and honoured that I have been asked to do my part as President of the Supervisory Board starting in April. Collaboration between private and public parties has ensured that the University of Twente has grown to become the most entrepreneurial university in the Netherlands.”
The Supervisory Board welcomes Schaaf’s appointment as its President, a position where he will be able to make a valuable contribution to the board’s work along with the other members.
Schaaf will succeed Kees van der Graaf in this position. Van der Graaf, who is bringing his four-year term as President to a close, remarked on his time at UT: “I have been more than honoured to serve as President of UT’s Supervisory Board for the past four years. I am impressed by the qualities of the Executive Board, the deans and scientific directors of the research institutes, and of course the directors of UT’s support services and their employees throughout the university community. The newly developed Vision 2020 is a solid and ambitious basis for this entrepreneurial university in an increasingly international context. I feel very confident in passing on the baton to my successor, Anton Schaaf. I will be focusing all of my efforts on my new company, Facio Therapies BV, which is developing and marketing a causal therapy for FSHD, a form of muscular dystrophy. This work will help me to achieve my greatest goal in life: finding a cure for this terrible disease.”
