Wageningen University, a part of Wageningen UR, has appointed five of its own researchers as professors by special appointment. These appointments have taken place due to the outstanding merit of the persons concerned within their own disciplines together with their educational achievements and great personal qualities.
The new professors are:
Professor (Dr) Carolien Kroeze, part-time associate professor within the chair group Environmental Systems Analysis and part-time professor at the Open University of the Netherlands.
Dr Willem van Berkel, associate professor at the Laboratory for Biochemistry
Dr (ir.) Martin van Ittersum, associate professor within the chair group Plant Production Systems.
Dr Hans de Jong, associate professor at the Laboratory for Genetics.
Dr Hauke Smidt, is associate professor at the Laboratory for Microbiology.
They are all appointed as professor within the group in which they currently belong.
Carolien Kroeze (Hardenberg, 1964)
leads the research regarding "Pollution Management" with the group Environment System Analysis at Wageningen University.
She is a highly respected teacher and her authoritative scientific research is held in esteem internationally. Her scientific innovation has been the modelling of nutrient flows from the land via rivers to coastal areas and oceans. In addition, she has contributed to various reports produced by the United Nations Climate Forum (IPCC).
Professor Kroeze studied biology at the University of Groningen and obtained her doctorate from the University of Amsterdam in 1993.
Willem van Berkel (Oss, 1952)
is a national and international authority in the field of molecular enzymology, an area of great importance for many areas of research in Wageningen where enzyme working and biocatalysis occupy centre stage.
He is a very productive researcher with a large number of publications, often in reputable journals, that are also regularly cited.
His career has certainly not been a standard one: he began, in 1974, in Wageningen as a HBO-B analyst after which he progressed to become a university lecturer and, in 1989, he received his doctorate in Wageningen.
Martin van Ittersum (IJsselmuiden, 1963)
occupies a special position in agricultural science and has made a large contribution to research methods for the analysis of agricultural and environmental policy.
He is able to link together the various scale levels - from field to business to the world market. He was the project leader for the EU SEAMLESS project that developed a wide-ranging and high-quality model with thirty knowledge centres from thirteen countries commissioned by the European Commission with the objective of delivering a contribution to a better European agricultural and environmental policy and to a sustainable development for the EU.
He graduated with distinction in agricultural plant cultivation at Wageningen and received a doctorate, also with distinction, there in 1992.
Hans de Jong (Nijmegen, 1950)
is a recognised authority in the field of the cytogenetics and chromosome biology of plants. In this field, he has played an essential role in the development of the molecular cytogenetics of, for instance, the tomato and the model plant Arabidopsis and in the use of cytogenetics in the sequencing of the genome of the potato and the tomato.
Dr De Jong studied biology at the University of Amsterdam and received his doctorate there in 1981. He came to Wageningen as a lecturer in 1984.
Hauke Smidt (Göttingen (D), 1967)
is an expert in the field of molecular microbial ecology.
He is the project leader for various European research projects and is also a visiting professor in Nanjing (China). Within his area of expertise, he performs successful and modernising research at the centre of the Wageningen UR strategy: climate, environment, bio-based research and nourishment and health.
He is a prolific and outstanding researcher who, despite his relatively short academic career, has already been frequently cited. Furthermore, he has an extensive international network.
The appointment to personal professor is initially for a period of five years and will give the researchers more opportunities to profile national and international research within their areas of expertise.