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Until my retirement (April 2026), I held the position of full professor at the University of Twente, and particularly that of scientific director of the Digital Society Institute.
Short bio
I studied Applied Mathematics at the University of Twente and obtained an MSc in 1983. My field of study was combinatorial optimization and, notably, graph theory. In 1988 I was awarded a Ph.D. in computer science from Leiden University, where I researched modeling operating systems (and actually built something close to the real thing). After my graduation, I spent approximately five years working for TNO research, and switched back to academic life in 1993 (Erasmus University Rotterdam) to join VU Amsterdam in 1994 as an assistant professor. I was appointed full professor in 2002 and became head of the Computer Science department in 2010 and remained so until moving to the University of Twente in 2015. As of April 2026, I am enjoying my “permanent vacation” as an emeritus professor.
You can find more on my research, publications, colleagues, and textbook writing elsewhere.
Miscellany
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- In November 2013, we attempted to write a book in five days, on adaptive collective systems. Overall, it’s more of a (long) position paper, beautifully published. Check it out.
- I made a small video on how I see the future of Computer Sciences. There’s work to do.
- I was interviewed by Grigoriy Skobelev and colleagues on the DS4 book, which was a truly fun experience.
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A personal note
I grew up with Dr. Seuss and for years I had the following on my website (which was forgotten when moving to WordPress). Thank you, Gabriele Laurenzi, for pointing out this omission!
My life in Twente
I still live in Leiden, which is some 200 kilometers from Enschede and about 2.5 hours when taking the train. To make matters sustainable, we have a cottage close to Eibergen, situated on 2 ha (5 acres) of land with trees and meadow. Such places make life very enjoyable, also considering their locations in the beautiful regions of Twente and the Achterhoek.
