Vinod Subramaniam is stepping down as Chair of the Executive Board of the University of Twente. As of 6 May, he has been appointed Chair of the Executive Board of the University of Amsterdam. Subramaniam took office as Chair of the UT Executive Board on 1 September 2021.
Following Subramaniam’s departure, the responsibilities of the Chair of the Executive Board will be temporarily assumed by the two remaining board members. The Supervisory Board will shortly initiate the procedure to appoint a new chair as soon as possible.
Vinod Subramaniam: "At the University of Amsterdam, I will have the opportunity to fulfil a challenging and meaningful role in Dutch higher education, that is commensurate with my experience and convictions. After careful consideration and consultation with my family, I have decided to take the plunge.
It was not an easy choice; the role as president of the UT is a special role for me, one that I have fulfilled with great pleasure and commitment in recent years. The UT has a special place in my heart; it was my first academic home in the Netherlands.
The past few years have certainly not been easy, with budget cuts, reorganisations, and discussions about internationalisation. These issues affected me not only as a board member, but also as a colleague and as a person.
I am proud of what we have achieved together and of the efforts we are now making - together - to set a new course for the UT. We have taken the first steps toward the UT of the future, and the process of developing the new institutional plan is almost complete. We are setting an ambitious but realistic goal for the UT. We will share these plans more broadly in the near future. I know that the realisation of these ambitions is in good hands with you; Tom, Machteld, and my successor, who play a central role in this from the Executive Board, and by everyone within the university. We are building Team UT together, and it requires the support of a broad group of people to realise our ambitions.
It has been an enormous privilege to work with you over the past few years, and I look forward to continuing to do so in the coming months."
Sylvia Butzke, chair of the Supervisory Board: "We deeply regret Vinod’s departure as Chair of the Executive Board of our university. Over the past years, Vinod has worked with great dedication and passion on Reinventing UT and has also made significant efforts to further strengthen UT’s profile at both regional and national level. In doing so, he has made an important contribution to laying a strong foundation on which the UT can now build for the future. We will greatly miss his commitment, his warmth, and his ability to bring people together. We wish Vinod every success in his exciting and challenging new role at the University of Amsterdam."