Secretary Van der Toorn also leaves

Last week, she said goodbye as secretary to the chair of the Executive Board. “I was actually supposed to retire on 1 November, but when Karel suddenly left at the beginning of July, I thought: I’ll just leave a little earlier.” No sooner said than done, and so on 15 September, Ria was the radiant centre of attention at a farewell reception in the Museum Café of the Heritage Collections.

Artists

Ria worked for the UvA for thirty-eight years, always as a secretary and always to a director or dean, and in recent years to the President of the Executive Board. “I started at the Faculty of Economics (FEB) in 1974, and in 1998 I moved to the (then) Faculty of Arts, which later became the Faculty of Humanities. I worked there for the then faculty director Wim Koning and for Karel, who was dean at the time. When he became President of the Board in 2006 and asked me to become his secretary, I hesitated for a long time. I really liked the Faculty of Humanities. The people who work there are half artists. Besides, I didn’t really want to go to the Maagdenhuis. That’s where it all happens: in the faculties. That’s the field, that’s where the students and academics are. But in the end, I did it anyway. I’m loyal to Karel, and at the Maagdenhuis I made other contacts, such as with the ministry and the mayor. And that turned out to be a lot of fun too.

“Karel was a really good boss. I could read and write with him. In fact, he became more of a friend than just my boss. I think we’ll continue to see each other. Now I’m going to enjoy my free time. Finally, no more obligations. Finally, the freedom to do whatever I want.”