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Honouring the
first director: CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre (CBS-KNAW) is now called the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute.
In 1907 Johanna Westerdijk became the first director
of the CBS-KNAW. On February 10th 1917 she also became the first
female professor in the Netherlands: Utrecht University appointed her as a
professor in phytopathology. To reflect the legacy this institute is built on,
the name of the CBS-KNAW changes to Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute on
this day.
When Johanna Westerdijk became director of the Westerdijk
Institute, she started with a mere 80 living fungi in the collection. Under her
inspiring leadership the collection evolved into the largest and most versatile
microbial fungal resource centre in the world, containing over 100,000
different species today.
She was a renowned multi-talented scientist, a
believer in equal opportunity and inclusion and a globetrotter; a true ‘homo
universalis’. She thought that fungi held a promising potential in contributing
to solve the world’s greatest challenges.
We continue to explore the world, collect new fungi
and investigate its characteristics for relevant societal applications.
Celebrating the Westerdijk-year
On February 10th it is exactly 100 years
ago since Johanna Westerdijk gave her inaugural lecture as the first female professor
in the Netherlands. Westerdijk was a renowned scientist with an international
and interdisciplinary orientation. She believed strongly in equal opportunities
and inclusion; she educated 56 PhD students, almost half of which were female.
In 2017, the “Westerdijk”-year, we honour her work and celebrate her
contribution to science.
Follow our events with #westerdijk.
See our events in honour of the Westerdijk-year
What
changes?
With a new
name comes a new logo. The new logo still represents the legacy of the former
logo. With a name change, a number of other things change as well. The most
important changes for you are our website and our email addresses. Our website
changes to www.westerdijksinstitute.nl as of February 10th. The website www.cbs.knaw.nl will redirect automatically to our new website.
Our email
addresses change to name@westerdijkinstitute.nl. All emails sent to the old email address will be
forwarded to the new address for at about 1 year.
The name of the collection remains the same: CBS-KNAW.
Have any questions about the change? Feel free to contact us.
Now you also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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