Religious Studies scholar Dr Karel van der Toorn will succeed Dr Sijbolt Noorda as president of the Board of the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam as of 1 September 2006. Van der Toorn has been permanently appointed by the Supervisory Boards after consultation with, among others, the representative advisory bodies of UvA and HvA.

Van der Toorn (b. 1956) was dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the UvA from 1998 till 2003. Under his tenure, the faculty began attracting more young talented scholars, and cooperation with other universities in the field of ‘minor languages and cultures' was initiated in an effort to preserve smaller studies in the field of languages and cultures of Europe. As dean, Van der Toorn also monitored the introduction of the bachelor's/master's system at the faculty, and initiated the development of multidisciplinary bachelor's programmes in particular.

Van der Toorn, now professor of Religions of Antiquity at the UvA, has an excellent reputation both as a scholar and a dean. He knows the UvA well and the Supervisory Boards see in him an excellent candidate to give further shape to the ambitions of the UvA and the HvA. Among the UvA ambitions are stressing the distinctive features of the university as an internationally oriented research university, and focusing in particular on the further development of the ‘international classroom' in Amsterdam. For the HvA, developing new hbo-study programmes tailor-made for society remains important, as well as the link between these programmes and the academic master's programmes. The further development cooperation between the UvA and HvA is thus important for both institutions, together with a healthy financial management and a suitable board.

Van der Toorn began his academic career as a scholar of religious studies at the Vrije Universiteit, where he obtained his PhD degree in 1985. He was appointed professor of Ancient Religions at the universities of Leiden and Utrecht in 1987 and was given a full appointment as professor of Ancient Religions at the University of Leiden in 1993. He was appointed dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the UvA in 1998.