King Willem-Alexander appointed Professor Pearl Dykstra an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. The professor of Empirical Sociology at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences was presented with the royal honour on Friday, 29 November by the Mayor of Bloemendaal Michel Rog, at the end of her farewell speech in the auditorium of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR).  

She received the award because, among other things, she has been strongly committed to increasing the role of social sciences such as in pandemic and disaster preparedness as academic lead of the Pandemic & Disaster Preparedness Centre (the collaboration between EUR, Erasmus Medical Centre, and TU Delft), and as the figurehead of ODISSEI, the Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations.   

Erasmus with the ‘Reispet’ 

Professor Jantine Schuit, Rector Magnificus, also presented her with the Erasmus with the ‘Reispet’ award for her great dedication to education, science and, above all, the way in which she has always deployed her connecting talents for the benefit of both science as a whole and people. This prestigious medal is awarded to members of the academic community who have distinguished themselves for the EUR by performing valuable functions that clearly go beyond the normal performance of their duties.  

Honorary membership of the Netherlands Sociological Association 

Furthermore, on the 21st of November, Professor Pearl Dykstra was awarded honorary membership of the Netherlands Sociological Association (NSV). With this honorary membership, the NSV expresses its deep appreciation for Pearl Dykstra’s contributions to Dutch sociology.   

If you want to read more about the NSV and its honorary members, follow this link.