- Job title
- Former Vice-Chancellor and President
Contact
Email the Vice-Chancellor's office: vice-chancellor@leeds.ac.uk
About
Professor Simone Buitendijk (MD, MPH, PhD), joined the University in 2020 as the thirteenth Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, a major Russell Group University with a commitment to high-quality education, a strong and dynamic research base and a track record of social, economic and cultural development.
In October 2023 she announced her intention to step down at the end of the year to seek new leadership opportunities in higher education. Professor Hai-Sui Yu, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, is acting as interim Vice-Chancellor and President until a global recruitment process can identify her permanent successor.
In her previous roles, Professor Buitendijk strengthened the links between education and research, led large change programmes and worked to further equality, diversity and inclusion. She has extensive experience of driving the digital and online learning agenda.
Before joining the University of Leeds, she was Vice-Provost (Education) and Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Imperial College London.
Before this, Professor Buitendijk was Vice-Rector at Leiden University in the Netherlands. There, she was responsible for education, student affairs and diversity; and played a major role in the overall strategic leadership and direction of the university as a member of a three-person leadership team.
She was previously head of a large research group in Paediatrics and Child Health at TNO Institute for Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and concurrently Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Leiden University Medical Centre and Professor of Midwifery Studies at the University of Amsterdam Medical Centre.