‘Without ambition, it won't work!’ Dutch bridge and Leiden University have that in common. In bridge, the Netherlands managed to become world champions last year. I believe that we, as Leiden University, have a societal duty to strive for excellence, to reach for the world's top. In legal studies – my own field – we have a foundation for this that goes back to Hugo de Groot, a scholar who is once again extremely relevant in today's globalizing world.
In the beta sciences, we experienced a golden age in the late nineteenth century with Nobel Prizes for Kamerlingh Onnes, Hendrik Lorentz, and Willem Einthoven. I don't think it's a coincidence that all three attended the Hogere Burgerschool (HBS), established in 1863, a type of school that paid significantly more attention to exact sciences than the gymnasium and served as a breeding ground for an ambitious middle class. I am convinced that it is precisely from a close-knit, interconnected, and simultaneously outward-looking Leiden university community that we are capable of making leaps in our knowledge again and again.
“My playing is learning, my learning is playing” is the well-known line of poetry by Hieronymus van Alphen, also a Leiden alumnus. I don't know if bridge falls under that, but I wholeheartedly support Leiden student bridge.
Prof. Mr. Carel Stolker
Rector Magnificus & Chairman