Maastricht rector Rianne Letschert: 'I will fight for diversity'
Times Higher EducationDe Volkskrant, one of the biggest Dutch newspapers, ran a long profile piece on Rianne Letschert when Maastricht University chose her as rector magnificus.
Her appointment in the post, equivalent to a provost at a US university, was seen as something different: the youngest female rector ever at a Dutch university (she is 40) and an appointee from outside Maastricht. Traditionally, a Dutch university chooses its rector internally from the ranks of its own professors.
The newspaper’s headline described her as goedlachse powervrouw, or the “smiley power lady”, as Professor Letschert noted (no doubt with some amusement) in her inauguration speech in September.