UU Professor Mutsvairo appointed interim director of Amsterdam University College

AUC is an English-taught liberal arts maintained by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and VU University Amsterdam. Mutsvairo is an alumnus of the Utrecht University College (UCU) and has previously worked at AUC as a lecturer. He has been teaching at UU since 2021, having obtained his professorship in 2024.

Mutsvairo will succeed Martin van Hees, who had been appointed for five years but decided to leave in February, after four years on the job. According to an AUC statement, the UU Professor is expected to lead a ‘transition process’ and develop a ‘future-proof’ position, though the statement doesn’t detail exactly what this entails.

Mutsvairo is taking the position as university colleges in the Netherlands find themselves under pressure, he says. University College Roosevelt, which is part of Utrecht University, had to make significant cuts to its budget earlier this year, including the dismissal of several staff members. Last year, the University of Twente closed down its university college altogether.

Commenting on his appointment, Mutsvairo says on the AUC website: ‘Having studied and taught within the University College framework, I understand the unique value that liberal arts and sciences bring to fostering critical thinking, interdisciplinarity, and global citizenship.’