Royal decorations for seven University of Groningen staff members

On Fridaymorning 29 April 2011, seven University of Groningen nominees received a Royal Decoration. Prof. F.T. Oldenhuis has been appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Prof. G.J.E. Ashworth, Prof. G.C.G. Dehue, Prof. H.L.M. Hermans and Prof. L. Hacquebord have been appointed Officers in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Prof. P.G.M. Luiten and Prof. J.M. van der Hulst have been appointed Knights in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Mr Prof. G.J.E. Ashworth

With Gregory Ashworth (Glasgow, 1941), the University of Groningen has since 1979 been able to boast of a world class researcher in his field: cultural heritage management, urban tourism, city marketing, urban planning and leisure time management. In 1994 he became professor of Heritage Management and Urban Tourism at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences of the University of Groningen. Despite retiring in 2006, he has continued to put his characteristic drive and phenomenal charisma at the service of the University. His is thus still an outstanding ambassador for the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, the University of Groningen, the city of Groningen and the Netherlands as a whole.

Gregory Ashworth has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Ms Prof. G.C.G. Dehue

Trudy Dehue (’s Hertogenbosch, 1951) is professor of Psychology, with special attention to the foundations and history of psychology. In addition to her outstanding international academic reputation, Dehue has also contributed significantly to the social debate in the Netherlands, particularly with her book De depressie-epidemie [The Depression Epidemic] and her media appearances related to that book.

Trudy Dehue has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Mr Prof. L. Hacquebord

Louwrens Hacquebord (Dokkum, 1947) is professor of Arctic and Antarctic Studies and Director of the Arctic Centre at the University of Groningen. He is a very important individual in Dutch polar research and the central figure for a whole generation of Dutch polar researchers, and is known to many abroad as the Dutch ‘Mr North Pole’.

Louwrens Hacquebord has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Mr Prof. H.L.M. Hermans

Hub. Hermans (Maasbree, 1949) is professor of Modern Romance Literature and Culture, particularly Spanish, at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. Hermans has been employed by the University of Groningen since 1975, first as a lecturer in Romance literature and culture studies, and since 1990 as professor. In the Netherlands his name is now synonymous with cooperation with Mexico and within the University he is one of the driving forces behind the stimulation of international contacts.

Hub. Hermans has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Mr Prof. J.M. van der Hulst

Thijs van der Hulst (The Hague, 1948) has a major reputation as an astronomy researcher in the global radio astronomy field and has contributed much to the positioning of the Netherlands in that field. He was chair of the board of the NWO Foundation ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, which aims to stimulate astronomy within and outside the Netherlands via the development of observation equipment for astronomers. In that capacity Van der Hulst was responsible for the exploitation and expansion of the radio observatories at Dwingeloo and Westerbork, particularly in the period when the scientifically very advanced radio telescope LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) was conceived.

Thijs van der Hulst has been appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Mr Prof. P.G.M. Luiten

Paul Luiten (The Hague, 1948), professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biological Psychiatry, specializes in research on the molecular processes that cause Alzheimer’s disease. His research is highly regarded internationally, as evidenced by the many times that his work is cited in the scientific literature and the many invitations he receives to speak at scientific conferences.

Luiten has conducted pioneering research into the role of reduced blood flow in brain tissue at the onset of dementia. He demonstrated that ageing is usually accompanied by a narrowing of the blood vessels in the brain. This means that the nutrient glucose is less able to reach the brain cells.

In addition, Luiten developed a method of researching the degeneration of an ageing brain that significantly reduces the number of laboratory animals needed. One side of the brain serves as a control for the artificially induced degeneration of the other half. This method, currently copied all over the world, reduces the number of animals needed by fifty percent.

Paul Luiten has been appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Mr Prof. F.T. Oldenhuis

Fokko Oldenhuis (Delfzijl, 1950), professor of Religion and Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen, with an additional appointment at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, has worked for the University since 1973. Until appointed professor in 2005, his teaching and research mainly concentrated on the law of obligations, particularly extracontractual liability law and tenancy law. Since early in his career, however, he has also published in a field of law studied by few other lawyers, and which can be summarized as that of religion and law. This concerns research that concentrates on the legal position of churches and religious communities and their members, viewed from the standpoints of private law, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law.

Fokko Oldenhuis has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.