Royal honour for Prof. Ans van Kemenade

On Friday 24 April, Professor Ans van Kemenade received a message from the mayor of her town informing her that she had been awarded a royal honour for her exceptional scientific and social merits. The decorations will be presented at a time to be determined.

Prof. Ans van Kemenade is awarded the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. This order is granted for achievements in the fields of science and arts.

Achievements in the field of science

Ans van Kemenade is Professor of English Language and Linguistics and spent almost ten years as chair of the board of the University Language Centre Nijmegen, which grew into a large expertise centre for language and communication. She laid the foundation for Radboud in'to Languages. As chair of the Language Policy Committee (2009-2018), she focused on embedding the English language within Radboud University, safeguarding the quality of both Dutch and English and improving the intercultural skills of employees and students.

She was a board member of the Netherlands National Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT) for seven years, during which time it developed into an internationally recognised and exemplary research school. As a result, she has brought international attention to Dutch linguistic research.

Digital revolution of the humanities

On the Humanities domain board, she devoted herself to the self-organisation and internationalisation of the humanities. She also played an indispensable role in the collaborative project CLARIAH (Common Lab Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities). Thanks in part to her contribution within the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Netherlands now plays a leading role in the digital revolution of the humanities in Europe.

Six other royal honours

Six other professors have also been awarded a royal honour. For the complete overview please see the news item of Radboud University.