Two UM professors among new KNAW appointees
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has appointed 19 new members, including two UM professors: Valentina Mazzucato and Kiran Klaus Patel. KNAW members are selected on the basis of their academic achievements. The Academy now has around 550 members, all of them leading academics from different disciplines. Membership is for life. The new members will be officially installed on Monday 16 September 2019.
Valentina Mazzucato (1965) is professor of Globalisation and Development specialising in research on migrant flows. She and her research group were the first to study migrants as well as the families they leave behind, showing that migrants initially receive money and goods from their home country, and only later send money and goods back. As a result, migrants and the family they have left behind often maintain close ties. Working with Ghanaian migrants, Mazzucato made a play about her research which was performed for Dutch and Ghanaian policymakers, teachers and migrants and formed the basis for a round-table discussion.
Kiran Klaus Patel (1971) is professor of European and Global History, specialising in the history of the 20th century from an international-comparative perspective. In his book The new deal: A global history, he demonstrated that the USA’s social policy of the 1930s was not unique, but had its roots in the welfare policy of Nazi Germany. His work on the history of European integration highlights the meaning and significance of European values in today’s world. Patel is an influential contributor to academic and social debates and a highly sought-after speaker, known for his elegantly formulated contributions at international conferences.