Maria van der Hoeven

Maria van der Hoeven
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 20 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
In office 11 June 1991 – 22 July 2002
Personal details
Born	Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (1949-09-13) 13 September 1949 Meerssen, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse(s)	Lou Buytendijk (1929–2012)[1][2][3]
Alma mater	Open University
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (born 13 September 1949) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. She served as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency from 1 September 2011^[4] to 31 August 2015.^[5]

Van der Hoeven served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 11 June 1991 to 22 July 2002, when she became Minister of Education, Culture and Science, serving until 22 February 2007 in the first, second and third Balkenende cabinets. She again returned to the House of Representatives for two short periods, after the general elections in 2003 and 2006, serving from 30 January to 27 May 2003 and from 30 November 2006 to 22 February 2007. She was Minister of Economic Affairs from 22 February 2007 to 14 October 2010 in the fourth Balkenende cabinet.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9][10] 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.^[11] She took over from Nobuo Tanaka on 1 September 2011.^[12] On 1 September 2015, she was succeeded by Fatih Birol.^[5]

Family

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.^[13]

Decorations

• Order of Orange-Nassau
  • Officer (3 December 2010)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria van der Hoeven.

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

References

External links

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

Ministers of Education of the Netherlands
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
De Visser Rutgers Waszink Terpstra Marchant Slotemaker de Bruine Schrieke Bolkestein Van der Leeuw Gielen Rutten Cals Bot Diepenhorst Veringa Van Veen Van Kemenade Pais Van Kemenade Deetman Braks Ritzen Hermans Van der Hoeven Plasterk Rouvoet Van Bijsterveldt Bussemaker

Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands
Ministry of Economic Affairs
Tak van Poortvliet Klerck Van den Bergh Tromp Bastert Havelaar Lely Van der Sleijden De Marez Oyens Kraus Veegens Talma Treub Posthuma Van IJsselsteyn Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Aalberse Koolen Slotemaker de Bruïne Verschuur Colijn Steenberghe Gelissen Steenberghe Colijn Steenberghe Van den Tempel Kerstens Van den Broek Gispen Vos Huysmans Mansholt Van den Brink Zijlstra De Pous Andriessen Den Uyl Bakker De Block De Jong Nelissen Langman Lubbers Van Aardenne Terlouw Van Aardenne De Korte Andriessen Wijers Jorritsma Heinsbroek Hoogervorst Brinkhorst Zalm Wijn Van der Hoeven Verhagen Kamp