Named Chairs

The University of Groningen has several named chair positions. These so called 'Named Chairs' are special because they carry the names of internationally renowned scientists. By granting the mentioned chairs to the professors at the University of Groningen they are honored in their work.

Leading professor of inequality Branko Milanovic appointed to Groningen Maddison Chair

Professor Branko Milanovic has been appointed the honorary Maddison Chair at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. The Chair was founded in 2010 to commemorate and further the academic work and international reputation of the late Groningen professor Angus Maddison (1926-2010).

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes chair for Professor Bart van Wees (2018)

Bart van Wees is professor at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (Faculty of Science and Engineering) and full professor of Physics of Nanodevices since 2000. Van Wees is a world-leading physicist in quantum electronic transport. He has contributed to forefront discoveries in nanoelectronics, mesoscopic systems, spintronics and (most recently) spincaloritronics and novel 2D materials. In addition to numerous other activities, Van Wees plays a leading role in the EU’s Graphene Flagship Project since 2013. A staggering € 1 billion is invested in this programme for research into graphene until 2023. In 2016, Van Wees was awarded the Spinoza Prize , the highest academic award in the Netherlands. (Read more)

Rudi Drent chair for Professor Theunis Piersma (2018)

Theunis Piersma is professor of Global Flyway Ecology at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering, UG) and Senior Research Scientist at the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research Department of Coastal Systems. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his scientific work on migration, ecology and evolution of birds and other taxa such as the prestigious Marsh Award for International Ornithology in 2017. In 2003, he was appointed professor of Animal Ecology and in 2012 he was appointed to the chair in Global Flyway Ecology, sponsored by a collaboration between the University of Groningen, the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Dutch national BirdLife association. He will now exchange this chair for the Rudi Drent chair in Global Flyway Ecology. In 2014, Piersma was awarded the Spinoza Prize , the highest academic award in the Netherlands. Piersma studied biology at the University of Groningen and was Rudi Drent’s PhD student. ( Read more)

Lodewijk Sandkuijl chair for Professor Cisca Wijmenga (2017)

Cisca Wijmenga has been working at the UMCG as a full professor of Human Genetics since 2007. Early on in her career, she developed a fascination for the wealth of information hidden within our DNA. As a post-doc researcher, she had the privilege of working in the laboratory of American geneticist Francis Collins who was, at that time, leading the Human Genome Project: the consortium that sequenced the first human genome. Wijmenga is a member of a wide range of academic associations, including the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences and the Fryske Akademy. (Read more)

Healthy Life Alliance chair for Professor Kuipers (2016)

The University of Groningen has approved the installation of a ‘Named Chair’, Healthy Life Alliance, and has appointed Prof. Folkert Kuipers as its holder. The chair has been established to support the mission and ongoing activities of the Noaber Foundation regarding innovation and care in an ageing society. The decision stems from the long-term partnership between the Noaber Foundation, the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), and the Alliance for Healthy Ageing (AHA) formed with the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA and its associated networks. Activities are being extended and intensified within the Healthy Life Alliance, a new initiative of the Noaber Network. (Read more)

Maddison chair for Professor Leandro Prados de la Escosura (2015)

Professor Leandro Prados de la Escosura is appointed on the honorary Maddison Chair at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the University of Groningen. The Chair was founded in 2010 to honor and commemorate the academic work and international reputation of the late Angus Maddison (1926-2010) who was a professor in Groningen. (Read more)

Heymans chair for Professor D. Draaisma (2010)

The famous psychologist, philosopher and publicist Douwe Draaisma of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, was appointed the Heymans chair on 1 September 2010, for the history of psychology. Since 2003 Draaisma has been a professor at the Chair of the Archief- en Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Gedragswetenschappen. (Read more)

De Sitter chair for Professor E.A. Bergshoeff (2009)

The University of Groningen has appointed Prof. E.A. Bergshoeff to the ‘De Sitter’ chair in Theoretical Physics. Bergshoeff is honored with this named chair because of his internationally renowned scientific contributions of extraordinary character, in specific to what is now known as the M- theory. Named chairs are specifically installed to recognize one’s excellence as a professor and are therefore named after an internationally known scientist in history. (Read more)

Duisenberg chair for Professor F. Smets (2009-2018)

Prof. Frank Smets has been appointed as honorary professor in the new Duisenberg chair at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. Smets is director general research at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and visiting professor in Ghent. The new chair has been established to commemorate Wim Duisenberg, former Minister of Finance and former president of both the European Central Bank and The Bank of the Netherlands. Duisenberg graduated cum laude in economics at the University of Groningen. (Read more)

Rudolf Agricola chair for Professor K. van Berkel (2009)

On the 16th of February 2009, Klaas van Berkel, appointed Rudolf Agricola professor in History, accept the chair with a speech entitled ‘Academisch leven’ [Academic Life]. In this speech he granted us a brief glimpse of the way he would approach his new task; writing a history of the University of Groningen since its founding in 1614. (Read -more)

Frank M. Bass chair for Professor P.S.H. Leeflang (2005)

H.J. Scheltema chair for Professor J.H.A. Lokin (2005)

Prof. mr. J.H.A. Lokin has been appointed the H.J. Scheltema Chair. This chair is named after Professor H.J. Scheltema, who is generally regarded as the founder of Byzantine law studies in the Netherlands. Scheltema, was professor at the Groningen faculty of law from 1946 to 1977. He also enjoyed a great reputation in the field of civil law. (Read more)

François Sellier chair for Professor A.M. Sorge (2005)

Prof. A.M. Sorge was appointed to the Chair Francois Sellier in 2005. Sorge is professor emeritus of International Business & Management at the Faculty of Management. He has a long academic record in the field of comparative organizational theory and is considered an international pioneer when it comes to the organizational and managerial aspects of this field. (Read more)

Mansholt chair for Professor D. Strijker (2005)

Dr. Dirk Strijker was appointed as the first Professor of Rural Development at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences of the University of Groningen in September 2005. He occupied the S.L. Mansholt Chair. This chair is – due to the proposal of local PvdA members – created by the Stichting voor Hoger Landbouwonderwijs (VHLO), and made available by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The chair is named after the Groninger Sicco Mansholt, one of the founders of the European agricultural policy. (Read more)

Van 't Hoff chair for Professor Ben L. Feringa (2003)

Prof. Ben L. Feringa (1951) has been Professor of Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the University of Groningen since 1988. In 2003, the University established the Jacobus H. van ’t Hoff Distinguished Chair in Molecular Sciences in his honour. The new chair recognizes Feringa for his creative and innovative work that led to the discovery of the molecular motor. (Read more)

Niko Tinbergen chair for Professor Serge Daan (2003)

Prof. dr. Serge Daan (1940-2018) was an inspiring biologist with a broad interest in science. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was knighted in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. He was awarded several prizes and awards, including the prestigious International Prize for Biology, which he received from the Emperor of Japan. His publications were cited over 15,000 times and include seminal work in chronobiology, sleep research, psychiatry, physiology, ecology and behavioural biology. The ‘Two Process Model’ of human sleep regulation he developed with Alex Borbély and Domien Beersma still inspires many sleep researchers all over the world. (Read more)

J.C. Kapteyn chair for Professor Piet van der Kruit (2003)

Prof. dr. Piet van der Kruit was appointed to the J.C. Kapteyn Chair in 2003. Van der Kruit is an emeritus professor of Astronomy, and was in his career mostly involved with research and teaching on structure and dynamics of our and other galaxies. In 1975 he moved to Groningen where he became a professor in Astronomy in 1987. In addition he was the director of the Kapteyn Institute and a member or chair of many Dutch astronomical committees and boards. For his PhD with Professor J.H. Oort in Leiden, he studied the expansions in the central parts of our Galaxy, using the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope. After that he was among the first observers of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, where he was involved in mapping nearby galaxies. (Read more)

The Jantina Tammes Chair

The Jantina Tammes Chair was established in 2001 with a view to enhancing the teaching and research in Gender Studies at the University of Groningen. The holder of the chair, a distinguished professor from outside the Netherlands, is invited to spend a period of three months in Groningen. The visiting professor is expected to do some teaching as well as to participate in research seminars. The chair-holder’s most public duty is to give a lecture in the Great Hall (Aula) of the Academy Building. Each year a different faculty is responsible for making the appointment, in order to ensure that gender issues receive due attention across the full range of university disciplines. (Read more)