Acta strategist Leon van de Zande is the new UvA secretary general
Leon van de Zande, strategic advisor to Acta dental faculty, has been appointed UvA’s new secretary general. He succeeds Calluna Euving, who is leaving the UvA at the end of October.
The UvA has a new secretary general. It is Leon van de Zande, currently a strategy and governance adviser at Acta, the joint dental faculty of UvA and VU. Van de Zande is a linguist and previously served as secretary general at Utrecht University. He therefore brings along considerable experience.
Strategy
Among other things, the secretary general is the head of the university administrative staff and responsible for supporting the Executive Board (CvB). The secretary general is also the link between the CvB and the faculties. It is a highly strategic, politically sensitive position where many internal (administrative) interests converge. In recent months, for example, Euving had her hands full with the whistleblower issue involving lecturer Laurens Buijs.
Man
It is the first time in a long while that a man is once again head of the administrative staff. The last one was Ruud Bleijerveld, who passed the baton in 2005 to Mieke Zaanen, who held the position for 10 years after transferring to the KNAW in 2015. The position was then briefly filled by Geke van Velzen, who combined the position with that of secretary general of the HvA. No one liked that dual function, including Van Velzen herself. She soon left and the positions were separated again when UvA and HvA separated. Euving then landed the secretary's chair, where she will be until the end of next month when she leaves for the Council for the Judiciary.
New secretary general Leon van de Zande has a broad view of higher education. He is also a member of the supervisory board of Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen (HAN) and chairman of the advisory board Utrechtinc, an incubator for start-ups. His appointment takes effect on October 23rd.
