Henk Kummeling to resign after UU's anniversary in 2025

Kummeling (63) took on the role of rector in 2018. Before that, he was the dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance. Kummeling is a professor of Constitutional & Administrative Law and has served as the chair of the State Commission on the Rule of Law since 2022.

As a rector, Kummeling has focused on further developing the university's educational model. He has advocated interdisciplinary education and community-engaged learning, for example. In the field of research, Kummeling was one of the driving forces behind open access and the organisational change best known as Recognition & Rewards, which considers more than publications when evaluating the faculty's work.

Last year, he explained his ideas about the future of the university in a book titled The University in Transition, which he wrote together with Manon Kluijtmans, then-director of the Centre for Academic Teaching, and Frank Miedema, then-dean of Open Science.

In a conversation with the Supervisory Board, the rector indicated that he is not interested in completing his second term, which was due to run until June 2026. On the one hand, Kummeling believes that his most important objectives are now "firmly on track", which justifies an early departure. On the other hand, as a university professor, he feels that he should be more involved with teaching and research. “There are many national and international developments in constitutional law, which makes me want to spend more time on my field, as a professor.”

In addition to Henk Kummeling, the Executive Board consists of President Anton Pijpers and Vice-President Margot van der Starre. Chiara Stam will be the student assessor to the Executive Board until September 1 2024 and will be succeeded by Niels Vreeswijk in September.

The procedure to find a successor for Kummeling will be started shortly. It is not yet clear whether his successor will take office immediately after the university's anniversary in 2025.