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Former Chair: Henk Aay

Academics / Departments & Programs / Dutch / Frederik Meijer Chair

The first holder of the Frederik Meijer Chair in Dutch Language and Culture, Henk Aay has long had a scholarly interest in his native country. Born in the Netherlands in 1945, Aay settled with his family in Canada, graduating with a BA in geography and planning from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. He earned a PhD in geography from Clark University in Worcester, MA, and came to Calvin in 1982 as the university’s first full-time Ph.D. geographer.

“I have had a passion for the Netherlands all my life. It will be a privilege to make that passion part of the work of the new chair.”

Aay has long studied the Netherlands, published on the geography of the country, served as a visiting scholar at the Free University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen and led more than ten Calvin off-campus interim courses there.

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