Van der Vorst (1970) was professor Operations Research and Logistics in Wageningen for ten years. Before that he worked for the organization advice agency Rijnconsult. In 1994 he graduated with distinction in Agrosystems in Wageningen and later also obtained his PhD in Wageningen, in 2000.
Van der Vorst: ‘In the ten years that I have been professor, my chair group has grown from an unknown club to a respectable group that has recently been assessed positively by the Review Committee. We have matured. It was a decent growth curve which makes you think: maybe it is also possible to achieve this on a larger scale in the science group.
He already has some ideas for improvements in the Social Science Group. ‘But first I want to talk. In the past years I have experienced the organization from one point of view, the chair group. To gain a wider perspective, I first need to talk to people, before I bring forth my own ideas. I believe that teamwork is important.’