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Wim van der Putten installed as a new member of KNAW

Published on
October 5, 2015

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has selected sixteen new members. One of the new members is Wim van der Putten, Professor of Functional Biodiversity, Wageningen University and Head of the Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute for Ecology. Academy members are prominent researchers active in all the disciplines. New members are nominated by peers from within and outside the Academy.

Photo: Inge Hoogland. Back row: Hans Kuipers (TUe), Chryssa Kouveliotou (foreign member, United States), Joost Reek (UvA), Nynke Dekker (TUD), Richard Ridderinkhof (UvA), Irene de Jong (UvA), Arjen van Witteloostuijn (Tilburg), Janneke Gerards (RUN), José van Dijck (President KNAW), Pearl Dykstra (Board KNAW). Front row: Wim van de Putten (NIOO-KNAW, WUR), Mirjam Ernestus (RUN), Michiel van den Broeke (UU), Mieke Zaanen (Director General KNAW), Huib Bakker (UvA, FOM-AMOLF), Renate Loll (RUN), Jan Willem Gunning (Board KNAW), Monique Breteler (foreign member, Germany), Anna Akhmanova (UU), Pauline Kleingeld (RUG), Corinne Hofman (UL), Philip Scheltens (Board KNAW), Sjaak Neefjes (NKI)
Photo: Inge Hoogland. Back row: Hans Kuipers (TUe), Chryssa Kouveliotou (foreign member, United States), Joost Reek (UvA), Nynke Dekker (TUD), Richard Ridderinkhof (UvA), Irene de Jong (UvA), Arjen van Witteloostuijn (Tilburg), Janneke Gerards (RUN), José van Dijck (President KNAW), Pearl Dykstra (Board KNAW). Front row: Wim van de Putten (NIOO-KNAW, WUR), Mirjam Ernestus (RUN), Michiel van den Broeke (UU), Mieke Zaanen (Director General KNAW), Huib Bakker (UvA, FOM-AMOLF), Renate Loll (RUN), Jan Willem Gunning (Board KNAW), Monique Breteler (foreign member, Germany), Anna Akhmanova (UU), Pauline Kleingeld (RUG), Corinne Hofman (UL), Philip Scheltens (Board KNAW), Sjaak Neefjes (NKI)

The Academy has approximately five hundred members, divided between its Humanities and Social Sciences Division and its Science Division. Members are appointed for life. The new members have been installed on Monday 28 September 2015 at the Trippenhuis Building, the Academy’s headquarters. Wim van der Putten (born in 1958), Head of the Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute for Ecology; Professor of Functional Biodiversity, Wageningen University & Research Center, is an internationally recognised leader in the field of soil ecology. For example, he has done pioneering research into the role of soil-borne pathogens in the natural development of plant communities. Thanks to his work, we now have a better understanding of how terrestrial ecosystems work, what the influence is of biodiversity, and how we can more accurately predict the way plant communities adapt to the changing climate. Van der Putten’s emphasis on aboveground-belowground linkages has even led to the development of a new ‘subdiscipline’ within soil ecology.