Introducing Ed van den Berg
Ed van den Berg started his role as the new interim Director of Operations in September. He will hold the fort until a permanent successor to Dirkje Schinkelshoek has been found. What will Ed be doing exactly, and who is he? We’ll leave that to Ed to tell you...
‘I studied in Leiden. It was a fun and hectic period of my life. On the one hand, I took my studies very seriously; I studied Public Administration and also worked as a student assistant. But I also enjoyed my student life to the full. I was a member of one of the main student associations and of a rowing club – at the same time. You could say that I got to know all the different sides of the city.
After Leiden, I went on to do a Master’s degree in Business Administration in Rotterdam and I also studied in the US. After that, I worked at Berenschot and for the municipality of Rotterdam, and then I got into interim management, which I’ve been doing for many years now. I have worked at several universities as well as at the Institutes Organisation of the NWO, for example. What I really like about my work as an interim professional is the freedom and the fact that you always get to work on something new. The downside is that you sometimes want to stay somewhere longer.
I am really enjoying being back in Leiden. It’s my job to make sure things keep running smoothly, so that Dirkje’s successor can take things forward from here. I am not here to change things per se, but if necessary, I can address specific issues.
This faculty is full of driven people working on all kinds of fantastic things
My first impression is positive. When I started at the beginning of September, it was still empty at the faculty. That will obviously change in the next few weeks, and we will be keeping a close eye on the government’s decisions. I expect that there will still be some restrictions in the coming months, which we will have to deal with sensibly.
There are a few things on the agenda for the coming period: the board will start preparing the budget, and the next phase for the new building will also be getting underway. And we are working with the institutes to prepare for the arrival of the new dean. That’s what I like about this faculty: it’s full of driven people working on all kinds of fantastic things. It’s an honour to be able to work here, even if only for a short time.’