Dirk-Jan Walstra appointed to Board of Directors
Dirk-Jan Walstra has been appointed to the Deltares Board of Directors in succession to Erik Janse and Ron Thiemann. He will take up his appointment from 1 February 2023. Erik Janse will retire in March. Ron Thiemann, who - just as Erik - has been a director at Deltares since its inception, will retire in June. Following Ron Thiemann's departure, the Deltares Board of Directors will consist of two members: Dirk-Jan Walstra and Annemieke Nijhof.
“I look forward to further shaping Deltares’ important mission of ‘Enabling Delta Life’, together with Dirk-Jan and the Strategic Management Team. Our knowledge and experience are more necessary than ever given the challenges we face in the fields of water, subsurface, and infrastructure,” says Annemieke Nijhof. “In Dirk-Jan, we will have a director who is well-connected with our 800-plus employees, as well as with our (inter)national partners and clients. This is vital, as the societal challenges we face require close cooperation in practice, where we are keen to share our knowledge.”
Dirk-Jan Walstra (54) has worked at Deltares since 1996. In 1994 he graduated from TU Delt in civil engineering, and in 2016 earned his PhD from TU Delft. After graduating, Dirk-Jan was based in South Africa, working for CSIR-Environmentek until 1996. At Deltares, he worked on various (inter)national projects, becoming the Head of the Applied Morphology Department in 2014. In 2019 Dirk-Jan became the Manager of the Hydraulic Engineering Unit and a member of Deltares’ Management Team. From 2005 to 2017 he was also an associate researcher at TU Delft and a guest lecturer at several universities, including Utrecht University and Twente University.
Dirk-Jan Walstra: “I am excited that my new role allows me to continue to build on Deltares’ strong position as a renowned knowledge institute. My focus will also be on the connection with the national and international market. However, most important for me is continuing to work together on our knowledge base, research, and innovation, and to achieve impact by applying these.”