Isabel Arends, Dean of the Faculty of Science, bids farewell to the faculty

In front of a packed auditorium, Arends received words of praise from, among others, Vice-Dean Bert Klein Gebbink, Director Klaas Druijf and UU Rector Wilco Hazeleger. The latter had worked closely with Arends in his previous role as Dean of Geosciences.

Speaking in the Minnaert Building, he described Arends as a warm person whose emotions are close to the surface. “We could always tell straight away when you were happy about something, but also when things weren’t going well.”

Rapid growth
Isabel Arends led the Utrecht Faculty of Science during a period of rapid growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, student numbers rose from 5,500 to 8,000. In a farewell interview on the intranet, she says she sees this as proof that the faculty can offer interesting and relevant degree programmes.

Thanks to this growth and additional funding from sector plans, several faculty-wide initiatives were launched, including Lili’s Proto Lab, where students and staff can develop ideas into concrete designs. There was also funding for collaboration between mathematics, computer science and physics, which is now set to lead to a new faculty-wide programme.

In the field of research, she sees the development of the so-called AI labs as significant. These labs collaborate with societal partners, such as the police, local authorities, and Dutch Railways (NS), to develop concrete applications of artificial intelligence.

Visibility
But what was particularly emphasised on Tuesday was Arends’ focus on the position of women, social safety and inclusion. Whenever a professorship became vacant, the first step was to check whether a woman was available, recalled Vice-Dean Klein Gebbink. “You consider that visibility important, certainly within a Faculty of Science.”

During her deanship, Arends also had to deal with several difficult cases involving inappropriate behaviour. An investigation within the Department of Chemistry revealed that these were not isolated incidents and that more staff members were experiencing problems with the faculty's working culture.

Arends often spoke of her desire to break through the hierarchical culture, which frequently had adverse effects. She was also a strong advocate of university programmes such as Open Science and Recognise & Value, which emphasise teamwork. She was also closely involved in initiatives to enhance staff leadership skills.

Quite a lot
In her acceptance speech, she said that at the start of her deanship, she sometimes ‘felt like Alice in Wonderland’. Coming from the Department of Chemistry in Delft, she suddenly found herself dealing with all sorts of other disciplines within the broad Utrecht faculty, many of which were new to her. But it quickly became her home. “I’ve always put my whole heart into it, but it is quite a lot. That’s simply because we’re so big,” she said.

Arends will be moving to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) on 1 April. She will become Director-General of the organisation, which also hopes to be based at Utrecht Science Park in the near future. It is striking that she is the successor to the new UU Vice-Chancellor, Hans Brug. A successor to Arends has also been found. Alan Hanjalic will start as dean in Utrecht on 1 July. Like Arends, he is moving from Delft, just as she did eight years ago.

The acclaimed Utrecht student choir Dekoor brought the gathering to a close. This was because singing is a major hobby for the outgoing dean. Afterwards, it was time for ‘a proper drink’, which Arends had requested, according to Klein Gebbink, when she was asked to share her wishes for her farewell.

Isabel Arends with the student assessors who have been part of the faculty board over the past eight years. Photo: Harold van de Kamp