BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 



Obviously this aspect of his rectorate gave him much satisfaction, 

 for 'What can be more beautiful than to live in the hearts of the 

 younger generation?', as he wrote to a friend shortly before his death. 



He had also been elected to membership in the Council of the Royal 

 Institute of Engineers. In this, as in many of his other official functions, 

 he was frequently confronted with various problems that had their or- 

 igin in marked changes in the social environment. These changes had 

 made higher education accessible to large numbers of young people 

 from non-intellectual milieus. At the same time, the country's economy 

 called for an intensive industrialization for which, in turn, many uni- 

 versity graduates were needed. The task devolving upon the Technol- 

 ogical University, of educating 5,000 instead of 2,000 students without 

 lowering standards or abandoning tried traditions, was in fact an im- 

 possible one. But Kluyver threw himself into the problem with his ac- 

 customed thoroughness, and amassed facts and ideas from every side. 

 He frequently referred to these problems in discussions with his asso- 

 ciates and students in the laboratory. Although this caused a momen- 

 tary interruption of the flow of the scientific work proper, it contrib- 

 uted to the participation of his pupils in the real problems of the mo- 

 ment. It was a great support for him that his wife had developed a 

 similarly directed interest in the existing social problems. 



From 1947 till 1954 Kluyver was President of the Natural Sciences 

 Section of the Royal Netherlands' Academy of Sciences. His feeling 

 for history led to the restoration of the proud headquarters of the 

 Academy, the 'Trippenhuis', during his presidency. Moreover, there 

 were problems of reorientation conditioned by the times, and Kluy- 

 ver was too much attached to the Academy to hesitate in placing all 

 his ability and energy at its disposal. With dash and dignity he re- 

 presented Dutch science, compelling respect for his thorough know- 

 ledge. An example of the manner in which he acquitted himself of 

 this task may be found in this book, where the after-dinner speech, 

 'An Aspect of the Promotion of Science', delivered at the annual 

 meeting of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington in 1953, 

 has been reprinted. It was the second time that a foreign sister insti- 

 tution, on this occasion the Netherlands' Academy, had been hon- 

 oured by an official invitation to attend such a meeting. 



Kluyver had already served the Academy in numerous committees, 

 among others in the Leeuwenhoek Committee. During his presidency 



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