Silvia Lennaerts is the first female rector of the University of Holland

Flemish Professor Silvia Lennarts will become Chair of Magnificus of the Eindhoven University of Technology on May 11. She is the first woman to hold this position at a technical university in the Netherlands.

At the University of Antwerp, Lennaerts (1966) was chair of the Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology Group she founded. Since 2016, she also holds the position of Vice-Chancellor for Valuation and Development.

Lennart holds a wide number of administrative positions in the academic world and beyond. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

She is the first female president of the Magnificus University of a Dutch university of technology. There are women chairs of the Executive Council. Louise Fresco served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Wageningen University in 2014. She was succeeded by Sjokji Haimovara in July 2022.

Rectors of Dutch universities are members of the executive board with education and research in their portfolios. They are seen as the symbol of their university in academic matters. The Chairman of the Board and the third member of the Executive Board do not always come from academia. Above all, they must be good drivers.