Jet Bussemaker Dutch politician Date of Birth: 15.01.1961 Country: Netherlands

1. Education
2. Academic and Political Career
3. Controversial Remarks
4. Higher Education Leadership
5. Minister of Education, Culture, and Science

Education

Jet Bussemaker attended primary and secondary school in Oegstgeest, Netherlands. She later studied at the University of Amsterdam, where she graduated summa cum laude with a Master's degree in Political Science (specializing in Political Theory). In 1993, she earned her PhD in Political and Socio-Cultural Sciences from the same university.

Academic and Political Career

From 1993 to 1998, Bussemaker was a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. During this time, she was a member of the GreenLeft party, but left in 1995 and joined the Labour Party in 1997.

In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Bussemaker was elected to the House of Representatives. She specialized in employment, health, and tax policies. In 2000, she initiated a proposal to legalize the right to refuse work on Sundays, which became law in 2002. She continued to teach part-time at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Controversial Remarks

In May 2008, Bussemaker drew criticism from lawmakers and fellow cabinet members for stating on the radio that she supported Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential election and viewed the election of his Republican opponent, John McCain, as a "catastrophe." She made these comments despite a ban on cabinet members making personal statements about foreign policy, which had been imposed shortly before after Finance Minister Wouter Bos expressed similar support for Obama.

Higher Education Leadership

In January 2011, it was announced that Bussemaker would join the board of both Hogeschool Amsterdam (which includes the International Business School and Johan Cruyff University) and the University of Amsterdam (the two institutions sharing a board), and would also become the dean of Hogeschool Amsterdam. In December 2011, the board of the universities was criticized for tolerating or failing to address large-scale diploma fraud at Hogeschool Amsterdam.

Minister of Education, Culture, and Science

On November 5, 2012, Bussemaker was appointed Minister of Education, Culture, and Science in the second Rutte cabinet. In this role, she has been responsible for education, research, and cultural policy in the Netherlands. She has implemented several reforms and initiatives, including increasing funding for education and research, expanding access to higher education, and promoting diversity and inclusion in the cultural sector.