Vinod Subramaniam new President of the Board UvA
Vinod Subramaniam has been appointed as the new Chair of the Executive Board of the UvA. With the appointment of the physicist from India, the university has secured the successor to Edith Hooge, who stepped down last year. Subramaniam will officially take up his position on 6 May.
Subramaniam takes over from Edith Hooge and will be installed this spring as the new Chair of the Executive Board of the UvA. Since 1 September 2021, he has served as President of the Executive Board of the University of Twente; prior to that, he was Rector Magnificus of the VU for six years. Until Subramaniam takes office on 6 May, outgoing Rector Magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek will continue to serve as Acting Chair of the Executive Board. Vinod Subramaniam (Chennai, India, 1967) is Professor of Biophysics and obtained his PhD in Engineering Physics in the United States, specialising in laser spectroscopic protein research.
In his first response, Subramaniam said he is looking forward to his new role: “The UvA is a broad, open and international university with a rich diversity of disciplines and a strong commitment to society. I admire the combination of excellent education and research that is both academically meaningful and socially impactful. Being able to return to Amsterdam in this role makes this appointment especially meaningful. I very much look forward to working together on the future of the UvA.”
The Supervisory Board of the UvA also responded positively: “He brings with him a wealth of experience and perspectives. He knows the academic world inside out, both as a university leader and as a scholar. With Vinod, the UvA gains a Chair with substantial managerial experience and a strong ability to connect.”
CSR blockade
Although the Central Works Council (COR) also issued a positive recommendation, the appointment of Subramaniam did not proceed entirely without obstacles. The recommendation of the Central Student Council (CSR) was blocked when CSR members from the Activist Party decided to abstain from voting, meaning that the minimum required number of votes from the CSR was not reached.
The Activist Party organised the blockade due to dissatisfaction with the selection procedure, which they consider opaque and undemocratic. According to CSR member Florence Lynch of the Activist Party: “Throughout the entire process I was bound by a strict confidentiality policy, which meant that at no stage of the selection procedure could I obtain input from students, including my own CSR colleagues.” The party says it will continue to abstain from voting on appointments to the UvA’s governing bodies as long as the process is, in their view, undemocratic.
