Leiden University: Six prospective members of the new cabinet have a degree from Leiden

As with Rutte III, six cabinet ministers have a degree from Leiden, which means that the University is once again a key supplier to the cabinet. Prime Minister Marke Rutte studied History in Leiden. And alumnus Wopke Hoekstra (CDA) is returning to the cabinet, this time in the role of Minster of Foreign Affairs. He studied history and Dutch law here in Leiden. On the traditional photo on the steps of royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, the new cabinet ministers stand alongside King Willem-Alexander, who studied history in Leiden.


Several law graduates
There will be more law graduates from Leiden in the cabinet. Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD) is the prospective Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. She did her bachelor’s degree at the University of Amsterdam and her master’s in law at Leiden. Marnix van Rij (CDA), the proposed state secretary for Tax Affairs, also studied law here.

Public administration
There are also two public administration graduates from Leiden: Franc Weerwind, (D66) has been appointed Minster for Legal Protection and Alexandra van Huffelen (D66) will probably be State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation.


Physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University in 2018.

Honorary doctorate
Robbert Dijkgraaf, the prospective Minister of Education, Culture and Science, studied Physics and Mathematics at Utrecht University. He received an honorary doctorate from Leiden in 2018 for his exceptional services to science, in particular to quantum field theory.