The Board of Trustees of the University of Aruba announces the departure of prof. dr. Viola Heutger as Rector at the end of October. Heutger is departing the island to pursue her academic career in Europe.
During her 2-year tenure as Rector, several positive developments took place at the university, including:
- The introduction of two new Master programs; Governance & Leadership and Sustainable Engineering.
- An agreement to introduce a Kingdom Mobility Program which enables students of the University of Aruba to study with a scholarship at Universities in the Netherlands, Curacao and Sint Maarten as exchange students.
- Expansion of the facilities with the integration of a lecture hall, administrative offices, and a staff lunchroom through a restructuring of the Centro Educativo Cristian, and the initiation of the renovation of the neighboring Maria Convent.
- The Center of Lifelong Learning further developed a wide array of courses and lectures catering to the diverse needs of the Aruban society.
- Increased emphasis on sustainable awareness and solutions, such as the acquisition of an electric car, the installation of solar panels, and the dissemination of information by PhD students regarding healthy and environmentally sustainable lifestyle choices
Heutger’s various efforts contributed to further the university’s international collaborations for the benefit of the students and academic research. In addition, she prioritized regional collaboration that helped establish a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Curaçao, the University of St Maarten, and Instituto Pedagogico Arubano.
Heutger also served as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Law, where she shared her knowledge of commercial law, and she initiated development programs for faculty and staff.
In anticipation of her departure, Viola Heutger is looking forward to teaching for the 25th time at the Summer School on European Private Law at the University of Salzburg and will participate in international conferences in Paris, Pisa and Palermo and a research stay in Budapest.
The Board of Trustees thanks Viola Heutger for her contributions to the university’s strategic goals and wishes her great success in her future endeavors.