After six years at the helm of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), Sijbolt Noorda will retire. Noorda, who is also the President of ACA, will be succeeded by Karl Dittrich in the post of the VSNU Secretary General (Vorzitter) on 1 December 2012.  Both men are very well-known in Dutch and global higher education.  Noorda had earlier been the President of the Executive Board (College van Bestuur) of Amsterdam University.  Dittrich has been the President of the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Council.

The VSNU represents the shared interests of the 14 research universities in the Netherlands in the fields of research, education, knowledge transfer, business operations, human resource management and international policy. Its core tasks are to promote the common interests of the Netherlands’ universities vis-à-vis Dutch and European politicians, government and civil society organisations; to provide a wide range of services; and to serve as an employer organisation for the between 40 000 and 50 000 people employed in Dutch universities.

We wish Karl Dittrich success and luck in his new position.  And we are glad that Sijbolt Noorda will now have even more time for his family and for ACA.

Association of Universities in the Netherlands