EXCITED STATES AND SPONTANEOUS TRANSITIONS: ASTRONOMER, LECTURER, ADMINISTRATOR, BIOGRAPHER

This paper concentrates on my life as an astronomer performing observational and interpretative research, as a university staff member and professor teaching students elementary and advanced courses and supervising PhD students, as an administrator serving on boards and committees within the University of Groningen, at national and international level in organizations related to astronomy or science funding, and finally as an author of biographies and other publications related to the history of (Dutch) astronomy. A curriculum vitae with a complete list of appointments, administrative functions, publications and other relevant information is available through my homepage. The emphasis is on my professional life and I do not describe my private life in any detail. I present a somewhat more detailed discussion of my ancestry and upbringing and its societal context to illustrate my background. I include anecdotes whenever appropriate. There are many more to tell, but that also would take too much space. These various aspects in the subtitle of my career were often overlapping. A recurring theme is that the things I undertook were challenges. There is some chronology in the order they are presented. I was born in 1944. In 1962 I enrolled in the University of Leiden, where I passed my ‘Candidaats’ (roughly Bachelor) exam in 1966, after which I became involved in research. I defended my PhD thesis in 1971. After a Carnegie Fellowship at the Hale Observatories in Pasadena, California I was appointed at the University of Groningen in 1975. In addition to research and teaching more and more of my time went to administration. I have been involved in the latter somewhat more extensively than most of my colleagues, partly out of interest, partly out of a feeling of responsibility, but also for a significant part because it was challenging. I have been surprised, but also gratified that in the majority of boards and committees I eventually was asked to serve as chairman. After my formal retirement at age 65 in 2009, I was appointed honorary professor up to age 70. Teaching essentially ceased, but research and student supervision remained, as did a number of administrative functions. I had a long-term interest in history in general and of astronomy in particular, but limited time forced me to devote not too much time to it. Since my formal retirement, and especially after I became emeritus in 2014, an increasing fraction of my efforts have been in that area.