New UvA chair Subramaniam: a highly engaged leader with a passion for cooking
He says he “respects” student activism and is said to address large groups of people with visible enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eye. Today marks the first working day of the UvA’s new President of the Board, Vinod Subramaniam. Who is he as a person?
He is humane, engaged, sincere and approachable: those who have worked closely with the new Executive Board Chair Vinod Subramaniam (59) struggle to find enough superlatives to describe his qualities as a leader. “He is accessible and highly engaged, in a way I have rarely seen in a university president,” says Maaike Platvoet, editor-in-chief of U-Today, the university magazine of the University of Twente, about Subramaniam, who is departing from Enschede.
It was at that university that the Indian-born and raised physicist was appointed professor of biophysical techniques in 2004, after already having built an impressive academic career in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Subramaniam remained active in Enschede until 2013, after which (in 2015) he moved to the Vrije Universiteit, where he became rector magnificus. In 2021, he returned to Twente as university president.
Difficult decisions
In Enschede, he faced a number of significant challenges, including the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the energy crisis, the Internationalisation in Balance Act, cuts to higher education, and, of course, the redundancies that came with them. In his farewell interview with Tubantia, he said: “You realise that, as a leader, you have to make difficult decisions. But that does not mean it didn’t affect me as a person. It led to sleepless nights and tears.”
Nevertheless, Subramaniam remained a popular figure in Twente. “I have only ever heard positive things about him at the university,” says Platvoet. “He is a charismatic speaker and knows how to encourage people.” Rector Peter-Paul Verbeek, who worked with him for years at the University of Twente, also praises the speaking skills of Subramaniam who, according to his LinkedIn profile, speaks no fewer than six languages – including fluent Dutch. “When he addresses a group, he rubs his hands together and his eyes light up,” Verbeek says.
The fact that he has such a strong command of Dutch says a great deal about the adaptability of the new President, who now feels completely at home in the Netherlands and even exchanged his Indian passport for Dutch nationality in 2015. “He’s simply not a stiff person, as many leaders tend to be. He moves through everything with a certain ease,” says Peter Breedveld, editor-in-chief of VU magazine Ad Valvas. “He is genuinely interested in people and therefore does not create distance. He is undeniably elitist, yet still speaks the same language as everyone else. He does this by occasionally seasoning his eloquent speech with a blunt, everyday expression.”
Activism
Although, in his farewell interview with U-Today, the physicist said that he “respects” student activism, this very issue has often proved a stumbling block for UvA administrators in the past. In that sense, Subramaniam will have his work cut out for him, especially since members of the CSR from the Activist Party unsuccessfully tried to block his appointment earlier this year. However, according to Maaike Platvoet, the new Executive Board Chair is particularly well suited to navigating this complex landscape. “He is energised by young people and often believes they have good ideas. Vinod likes to make time to engage with student activists.”
That strong sense of engagement is frequently mentioned when people speak about Subramaniam. He is described as unifying, warm and approachable, and, according to those who know him, he is able to bring a note of lightness even in difficult moments. In various interviews, he has emphasised how important it is for him to be accessible and genuinely concerned with the wellbeing of the people he works with.
It is an admirable attitude, but also one that means he takes much of his work home with him. “It’s not as though I shut the door behind me in the evening and leave it all there. It doesn’t work like that for me. I’m a people person. You wake up with it, and you go to bed with it,” he told U-Today. Still, there is one outlet he can always rely on: cooking. Preferably Indian cuisine. Experimenting with food, turning the kitchen into something of a laboratory, is for Subramaniam the ultimate way to unwind.
Diversity
All signs suggest that the UvA has succeeded in appointing a capable and engaging leader in Subramaniam. He is certainly well acquainted with Amsterdam: even while working in Enschede, he continued to live in the capital, where his wife and child are settled. The fact that the university is, for the first time in its history, appointing a non-Western Executive Board Chair will also be seen by progressive voices within the UvA as a long-held wish fulfilled. Subramaniam himself – in line with his membership with D66 – has always been open about the importance he attaches to diversity within university leadership. Upon taking office in Twente in 2021, he told U-Today: “I was one of the first non-Western leaders at a Dutch university, and I am still the only one. That has to change.”
Are there no weaknesses, pitfalls or vulnerabilities to be found? “He will no doubt have them, but I wouldn’t know what they are,” says Peter Breedveld. “He is simply one of the best leaders I have ever encountered.” Peter-Paul Verbeek likewise believes that the UvA is “in very good hands” with the new Executive Board Chair, who takes up his role today. Whether Subramaniam will live up to these high expectations remains to be seen.
