Maria van der Hoeven

Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (born 13 September 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and nonprofit director.

Maria van der Hoeven
Maria van der Hoeven in 2007
Executive Director of the International Energy Agency
In office 1 September 2011 – 31 August 2015
Deputy	Richard Jones
Preceded by	Nobuo Tanaka
Succeeded by	Fatih Birol
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office 22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Joop Wijn
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Minister of Education, Culture and Science
In office 22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Loek Hermans
Succeeded by	Ronald Plasterk
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 30 November 2006 – 22 February 2007
In office 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
In office 11 June 1991 – 22 July 2002
Parliamentary group	Christian Democratic Appeal
Personal details
Born	Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven 13 September 1949 Meerssen, Limburg, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980)
Other political affiliations	Catholic People's Party (until 1980)
Spouse(s)	Lou Buytendijk ​ ​ (m. 1978; died 2012)​ [1][2][3]
Residence	Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Alma mater	Open University (Bachelor of Education)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Education administrator · Teacher · Lobbyist

Van der Hoeven attended a Lyceum in Maastricht from April 1966 until May 1969 and applied at the Open University in Heerlen in July 1970 majoring in Education obtaining an Bachelor of Education degree in June 1972. Van der Hoeven worked as a economics teacher in Maastricht from June 1969 until February 1987 and served as a education administrator for the Adult Commercial Vocational Training Centre in Maastricht from September 1981 until February 1987. Van der Hoeven served on the Municipal Council of Maastricht from April 1974 until June 1991. Van der Hoeven worked as Chairwoman of the Supervisory board of the Limburg Technology Centre from February 1987 until June 1991.

Van der Hoeven became a Member of the House of Representatives after Huib Eversdijk was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1991, taking office on 11 June 1991 serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Education, Culture and Science and spokesperson for Education, Social Work, Culture and deputy spokesperson for the Interior, Economic Affairs, Social Affairs, Ombudsman and Equality.

After the election of 2002 Van der Hoeven was appointed as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Cabinet Balkenende I, taking office on 22 July 2002. The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just four months later on 16 October 2002 after tensions in the coalition over the stability of the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. After the election of 2003 Van der Hoeven returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 30 January 2003. Following the cabinet formation of 2003 Van der Hoeven continued as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Cabinet Balkenende II, taking office on 27 May 2003. The Cabinet Balkenende II fell on 30 June 2006 after the Democrats 66 (D66) had lost confidence in the functioning of Minister of Integration and Asylum Affairs Rita Verdonk and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III with Van der Hoeven remaining as Minister of Education, Culture and Science, taking office on 7 July 2006. After the election of 2006 Van der Hoeven again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 30 November 2006. Following the cabinet formation of 2006 Van der Hoeven was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Balkenende IV, taking office on 22 February 2007. The Cabinet Balkenende IV fell on 20 February 2010 after tensions in the coalition over the extension of the Dutch involvement in the Task Force Urozgan of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. In May 2010 Van der Hoeven announced that she wouldn't stand for the election of 2010. Following the cabinet formation of 2010 Van der Hoeven was not giving a cabinet post in the new cabinet, the Cabinet Balkenende IV was replaced by the Cabinet Rutte I on 14 October 2010.

Biography

Early life

After completing her secondary education she trained as a primary-school teacher in Maastricht. She went on to gain a secondary teaching certificate in English, after which she attended courses in higher management for non-profit organisations at the Institute of Social Sciences and business management at the Open University in Heerlen. From 1969 she taught at home economics schools and from 1971 at a junior secondary commercial school, where she later became a school counsellor. Until 1987 she was head of the Adult Commercial Vocational Training Centre in Maastricht, after which she served as the head of the Limburg Technology Centre until 1991.

Politics

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 2009. Van der Hoeven with incumbent Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Japanese PM Taro Aso, and Prince Andrew.[4]

From 1985 to 1991, Van der Hoeven was a member of the municipal council of Maastricht. From 1991 to 2002, Member of the House of Representatives and Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2002 to 2007. In 2005, she caused an uproar in a debate about the teaching of Intelligent Design in the country's schools. Van der Hoeven said that Charles Darwin's theories were incomplete and that new things had been discovered by proponents of intelligent design. The then Dutch Minister of Education later announced that she did not intend to introduce the creationist ideas into the school curricula but only wanted to confront their adherents with the supporters of the theory of evolution.[5]

Minister of Economic Affairs from 2007 to 2010, she has held a variety of social and cultural posts, including membership of the governing board of the Domstad Primary Teacher Training College in Utrecht and the Southern Dutch Opera Association, and membership of the ‘’t Vervolg’ theatre group.

On 11 March 2011, Van der Hoeven was appointed Executive Director of the International Energy Agency.[6][7] Her opponents have voiced concerns that she lacks expertise on energy matters, while her supporters point out that her work as Minister of Economic Affairs included many energy issues, and that she has extensive contacts with major OPEC members.[8] She took over from Nobuo Tanaka on 1 September 2011.[9] On 1 September 2015, she was succeeded by Fatih Birol.[10]

Later career

Since October 2016, van der Hoeven has been Vice Chairwoman of the High-level Panel of the European Decarbonisation Pathways Initiative within the European Commission. In addition, she holds several board memberships.

Corporate boards

• Innogy, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2016)
• Total S.A., Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2016)[11]

Non-profit organizations

• Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Board de Trustees (since 2015)

Personal life

Van der Hoeven is married to Lou Buytendijk, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2005. Because of her husband's illness she is active in the Dutch Alzheimer's Foundation and currently serves as its president.[12]

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Officer of the Legion of Honour	France	28 October 2008
	Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	3 December 2010
	Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus	House of Savoy	4 November 2017

See also

• Creation and evolution in public education
• Politics of the Netherlands
• World Energy Outlook

References

1. (in Dutch) Themabijeenkomst Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Alzheimer Nederland
2. (in Dutch) Halve Bossche' speciale gast Kamer van Koophandel Brabantsdagblad
3. lou-buytendijk on www.mensenlinq.nl
4. "Dmitry Medvedev met with the head of the Dutch delegation, Minister of Economic Affairs of The Netherlands Maria van der Hoeven". Kremlin. 18 February 2009.
5. "The dangers of creationism in education". Council of Europe–Parliamentary Assembly, Committee on Culture, Science and Education. 17 September 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
6. "Former Dutch Minister Maria van der Hoeven Named Next Executive Director of the IEA to Start in September 2011" (Press release). International Energy Agency. 2011-03-11. Archived from the original on 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
7. "New head for the IEA". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
8. Sekularac, Ivana; Boselli, Muriel (2011-08-16). "New IEA head brings people skills, M.East expertise". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
9. "IEA Names Dutch Ex-minister Van Der Hoeven As Executive Director". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
10. "Fatih Birol ushers in new era for IEA—Takes office as Executive Director of global energy authority". IEA. 1 September 2015.
11. Board of Directors Total S.A..
12. (in Dutch) Als de mist neerdaalt Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Jong-dement.nl

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) M.J.A. (Maria) van der Hoeven Parlement & Politiek