Notable alumni, faculty and administrators of Utrecht University.
Nobel Prize laureates Nicolaas Bloembergen, a Dutch-American physicist and National Medal of Science laureate Paul J. Crutzen, a Dutch chemist Peter Debye, a Dutch-American physicist and National Medal of Science laureate Christiaan Eijkman, a Dutch physician, pathologist Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physician, physicist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, a Dutch chemist Gerard 't Hooft, a Dutch physicist and Wolf Prize laureate Tjalling Koopmans, a Dutch-American mathematician, physicist, economist Rudolf Magnus, a German pharmacologist (nominated) Wilhelm Röntgen, a German physicist Lavoslav Ruzicka, a Croatian-Swiss chemist Martinus J.G. Veltman, a Dutch physicist
Academics
Astronomers and Physicists Amina Helmi is an Argentine astronomer, Spinoza Prize laureate Ed van den Heuvel a Dutch astronomer, Spinoza Prize laureate Jacobus Kapteyn, astronomer Pieter Kok, physicist Arie A. Kruithof, physicist Renate Loll, physicist Marcel Minnaert, astronomer Abraham Pais, physicist, science historian Erik Verlinde is a Dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist, Spinoza Prize laureate Cisca Wijmenga is a Dutch professor of Human Genetics, Spinoza Prize laureate
Computer scientists Max Welling, computer scientist, co-founder of Scyfer BV and an inventor of variational autoencoders (VAEs) Durk Kingma, computer scientist, co-founder of OpenAI Peter Braam, computer scientist, mathematician and entrepreneur Jan van Leeuwen, computer scientist Erik Meijer, computer scientist Mark Overmars, computer scientist
Scientists Henk Barendregt, Dutch logician, known for his work in lambda calculus and type theory. Johannes Martin Bijvoet, chemist Elisabeth Bik, microbiologist and science writer Pieter Boddaert, Dutch physician and naturalist. Debby Bogaert, professor of pediatrics Jan K. Buitelaar, medical doctor, psychiatrist, author, and academic C.H.D. Buys Ballot, meteorologist René Descartes, philosopher, mathematician Peter Hagoort is a Dutch neuroscientist who studies the neurobiology of language, Spinoza Prize laureate J. G. ten Houten, phytopathologist and botanist Aristid Lindenmayer, biologist Jack van Lint, mathematician
Marjo van der Knaap is a Dutch professor of pediatric neurology, Spinoza Prize laureate Izaak Maurits Kolthoff, chemist Victor Jacob Koningsberger a Dutch botanist Andrea 't Mannetje, epidemiologist
Jan Pol a Dutch-American veterinarian
Jansje Gretha Schuiringa, one of first Dutch dentists, professor of prosthetic dentistry Marten Scheffer is a Dutch ecologist, Spinoza Prize laureate Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, physician, scientist Marie Beatrice Schol-Schwarz, phytopathologist Twie Giok Tjoa, organizational sociologist, feminist Frans de Waal, zoologist and ethologist Anne Wyllie, microbiologist
Other academics
René Descartes, French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician who developed the techniques of analytical geometry, was taught by Utrecht University professors. Nicholas Barbon, one of the first proponents of the free market Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, German Margrave of Baden-Durlach, who established the city Karlsruhe Yuri Bobbert, cybersecurity executive, academic, and entrepreneur Henk J. M. Bos, historian of mathematics Rutger Bregman (born 1988), historian Pieter Burmann the Younger, philologist
Michael Clyne, linguist Deirdre Curtin, legal scholar, Spinoza Prize laureate Johann Georg Graevius, scholar Lodewijk Grondijs, Byzantologist, war correspondent Jacoba Hol, physical geographer Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Iranist Joep Leerssen is a Dutch comparatist and cultural historian, Spinoza Prize laureate John Henry Livingston, academic, fourth president of Rutgers University Heiko Oberman, historian Perizonius, scholar Maarten van Rossem, historian Jan Hendrik Scholten, theologian Boudewijn Sirks, specialist in Roman law Gerard Verschuuren, philosopher from the former Institute of Human Biology
Royalty Members of Dutch Royal Family Princess Irene of the Netherlands, Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Annemarie, Duchess of Parma
Politicians Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dirk Jan de Geer, Jan de Quay, Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Joan Röell, Theo van Lynden van Sandenburg, Aeneas Mackay Jr;
Ministers of the Cabinet of the Netherlands 4 Ministers of Education of the Netherlands: Jan Rudolph Slotemaker de Bruïne, Marga Klompé, Theo Bot, Robbert Dijkgraaf; 5 Ministers of Finance of the Netherlands: Theo de Meester, Max Steenberghe, Piet Lieftinck, Frans Andriessen, Sigrid Kaag; 5 Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Pim van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout, Johan Beyen, Hans van den Broek, Tom de Bruijn; 4 Ministers of Justice and Security: Jan Donner, Josef van Schaik, Johan van Maarseveen, Job de Ruiter; 5 Ministers of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: Godert van der Capellen, Edzo Toxopeus, Henk Beernink, Jan de Koning, Klaas de Vries; 2 Ministers of Defence: Wim van Eekelen, Hans Hillen; 2 Ministers of Infrastructure: Henk Zeevalking, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen; 2 Ministers of Economic Affairs: Dionysius Koolen, Jan Terlouw; 1 Minister of Agriculture: Aat van Rhijn; 3 Ministers of Social Affairs: Dionysius Koolen, Aart Jan de Geus, Wouter Koolmees; 2 Minister of Health Aart Jan de Geus, Els Borst.
Foreign heads of state or government The Prime Minister of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham; A signatory to the U.S. Constitution: Hugh Williamson; The South African Prime Minister: D. F. Malan; The Prime Minister of Suriname: Severinus Desiré Emanuels; A president of Suriname:Fred Ramdat Misier; 7th President of Burma: Maung Maung; The President of Guatemala: Bernardo Arévalo;
Others Wim Aantjes, politician Arend Jan Boekestijn, historian, politician Lulzim Basha, Mayor of Tirana, politician, former Albanian minister Sabina Frederic, Argentine Minister of Security Anne-Marie Mineur, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, First Lord of the Treasury Hugh Williamson, politician
Writers Saba Hamzah, poet and scholar Benjamin Moser, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Utrecht University received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2020 for his biography of Susan Sontag, titled Sontag: Her Life and Work. Andrew Murray, a South African writer, teacher and Christian pastor J. Slauerhoff, poet; novelist; assistant at the university's clinic for Dermatology and Venereal Diseases 1929–1930 Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, poet Roelof ten Napel, writer, poet, and essayist
Other alumni Annemarie, Duchess of Parma, journalist, consultant, and member of the extended Dutch royal family Anna Maria van Schurman, classicist and painter Clarence Barlow, composer James Boswell, author, lawyer Joke Brandt, diplomat David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, author, lawyer Jacob Emil van Hoogstraten, Director Department of Economic Affairs in colonial Indonesia Cecilia Medina, jurist, lawyer Willem Marcus van Weede, law
Faculty Mario Alinei Cornelis Dirk Andriesse Frans Andriessen Barnita Bagchi Julia Bailey-Serres Mieke Bal Marc Baldus Johann Conrad Barchusen, first chemistry professor Nicolaas Beets Reinout Willem van Bemmelen Jan Hendrik van den Berg Jan Bergstra Frits Beukers Johannes Martin Bijvoet Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing Fred van der Blij Pieter Boddaert Hans L. Bodlaender Els Borst Henk J. M. Bos Onno J. Boxma Rosi Braidotti Sjaak Brinkkemper Marcel Van den Broecke Hendrik Brugmans Martin van Bruinessen C. H. D. Buys Ballot Heinrich von Cocceji Floris Cohen Wim Cohen Jacqueline Cramer Dirk van Dalen Gerrit De Geest Cees Dekker Dennis Dieks Isbrand van Diemerbroeck Jurriaan ten Doesschate Franciscus Donders Hans Duistermaat Carl Andreas Duker Thomas von der Dunk Cornelis van Eck Peter Ester Hans Freudenthal Bas de Gaay Fortman Robert van Genechten Beatrice de Graaf, a Dutch history professor at the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University, Stevin Prize laureate Johann Georg Graevius Diederick E. Grobbee an Epidemiologist and Distinguished University Professor Louis Grondijs Hendrik Jacob Hamaker A. G. van Hamel Sadik Harchaoui Pieter Harting Majid Hassanizadeh Michiel Hazewinkel William S. Heckscher Karl Heilbronner Philip Willem van Heusde Jacob van der Hoeden Martin Hoek Jan Hogendijk Paulien Hogeweg Jacoba Hol Johannes Hoornbeek Pieter Willem van der Horst Ambrosius Hubrecht Johannes Alphonsus Huisman G.P. van Itterzon Cornelis de Jager Mark Janse Hans Jansen Nico van Kampen Paul Joan George Kapteyn Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald Ilse Kokula Jan Koster Jan Lambooy Jan van Leeuwen Jan Christiaan Lindeman Rob Meens, medieval historian Lambert Meertens Annette Merz Marcel Minnaert Bert Mosselmans Pieter van Musschenbroek Cornelis Willem Opzoomer Leonard Ornstein Jim van Os, a Dutch academic and Professor of Psychiatry of the Brain Center at Utrecht University Medical Center Ab Osterhaus Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans Mark Overmars, computer scientist Jean Henri Pareau Adriaan Theodoor Peperzak Petrus van Mastricht Herman Philipse Pieter Hendrik van Cittert Cornelis Pijnacker Hordijk Ronald Plasterk Sacha Prechal August Adriaan Pulle Jan de Quay Henricus Regius Henricus Reneri Maarten van Rossem Job de Ruiter Leopold Ružička Heleen Sancisi Weerdenburg Willem Saris Mirko Tobias Schäfer Hans Schenk Paul Schnabel Peter Schrijver Wisse Alfred Pierre Smit Hermann Snellen Sami Solanki T. A. Springer Hendricus Stoof Dirk Jan Struik Karel van der Toorn Uğur Ümit Üngör William Uricchio Peter van der Veer Jan G.F. Veldhuis Co Verdaas Pieter verLoren van Themaat Willem Anton van Vloten Johannes Voet Gisbertus Voetius Henk van der Vorst Petrus Johannes Waardenburg Willem Albert Wagenaar Stefan E. Warschawski C. E. A. Wichmann David de Wied Bernard de Wit Hermann Witsius George Weijer
Spinoza Prize laureates Anna Akhmanova is a Russian-born professor of Cell Biology, Bas van Bavel is a Dutch historian, René Bernards is a Dutch cancer researcher, Jozien Bensing is a Dutch clinical psychologist, Hans Clevers is a Dutch molecular geneticist, cell biologist and stem cell researcher, José van Dijck is a new media author and a distinguished university professor in media and digital society Robbert Dijkgraaf is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, Naomi Ellemers is a distinguished professor of social psychology, Daan Frenkel is a Dutch computational physicist, Piet Gros is a Dutch chemist and professor biomacromolecular crystallography, Jan van Hooff a Dutch biologist best known for his research involving primates Albert J. R. Heck is a Dutch scientist and professor in the field of mass spectrometry and proteomics, Birgit Meyer is a German professor of religious studies, Ieke Moerdijk is a Dutch mathematician,
Gerardus Johannes Mulder a Dutch organic and analytical chemist Hans Oerlemans is a Dutch climatologist specialized in glaciology and sea level,
Frits van Oostrom is a university professor for the Humanities,
Ben Scheres is a Dutch developmental biologist, Anne Barbara Underhill a Canadian astrophysicist Bert Weckhuysen is a professor of inorganic chemistry and catalysis, Jan Luiten van Zanden is a Dutch economic historian and professor of Global Economic History,
Rectors (Dates as rectors) Jan Ackersdijck 1840 to 1841:de:Jan Ackersdijck Antonius Aemilius 1644 to 1645, and 1659 to 1660:de:Antonius Aemilius Christian Bernhard Albinus 1728 to 1729, and 1741 to 1742:de:Christian Bernhard Albinus Hieronymus Simons van Alphen 1717 to 1718, and 1733 to 1734:de:Hieronymus Simons van Alphen Henricus Johannes Arntzenius 1793 to 1794:de:Henricus Johannes Arntzenius