SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS PROFESSOR HANS J.A. VAN GINKEL RECTOR OF UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY
Press Release
SG/A/629
BIO/3065
SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS PROFESSOR HANS J.A. VAN GINKEL RECTOR OF UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY
19970320 Following consultations with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Federico Mayor, and with his concurrence, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Professor Hans J.A. van Ginkel of the Netherlands as Rector of the United Nations University.Professor van Ginkel will be the fourth Rector of the United Nations University. He is expected to assume his position at the University's headquarters in Tokyo on 1 September. He will succeed Professor Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, who completes his second five-year term as the third Rector of the University on 31 August. The University's previous rectors include Professor James M. Hester of the United States (1975 to 1980) and Professor Soedjatmoko of Indonesia (1980 to 1987).
Professor van Ginkel was appointed a member of the Council of the United Nations University in 1992. A noted university administrator, educator and scholar, Professor van Ginkel has been Rector Magnificus of Utrecht University since 1986. In 1985, he joined the Executive Board of the University. From 1982 to 1985 he was Dean of its Faculty of Geographical Sciences. He had joined the Faculty in 1968 and, in 1980, was appointed as full Professor in human geography and planning.
Professor van Ginkel has actively contributed to the work of international organizations, notably UNESCO, as a member of the Special Advisory Group on Higher Education established by the Director General. He has also held posts in a number of international academic and teaching organizations, including the International Training Centre for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences, the European Association of Universities and the International Association of Universities. As Rector of the University of Utrecht, he has developed North-South cooperative links with African, South- East Asian and South and Central American universities. In 1992, he became a member of the Social Sciences Council of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1994, he was awarded the Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the highest distinctions in the country.
Professor van Ginkel graduated from the University of Utrecht with a doctoral degree in Social Sciences. He is the author of a large number of publications dealing with urban and regional development, population and housing studies and internationalization and university management.
Professor van Ginkel was born in 1940. He is married and has two children. * *** *