De Jong works in the Field Crops department of Wageningen Plant Research in Lelystad. He has a seat in Wageningen Research’s Central Works Council (COR) and in the WUR Council, the central consultative body for all of WUR.
Within the COR, De Jong chaired the Management and Organization committee for a number of years. ‘We discussed some interesting questions there, such as Imares joining the Animal Sciences Group and WUR taking over part of TNO. There were fewer topics like that in the past year so it was time for a new challenge: this chair.’
When asked what he wants to achieve in the next year, De Jong says: ‘A positive aspect in my opinion is that we increasingly have good discussions with the Executive Board about issues that affect staff and the organization and that are not just linked to proposed resolutions. I would like to reinforce that. Another point is that I think the present WUR Council is too big at 26 members. It’s an unwieldy, formal club. I would personally prefer a smaller WUR Council, but I don’t expect that to change in the coming year.’