Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (born 13 September 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA) and nonprofit director. Van der Hoeven attended a

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

from April 1966 until May 1969 and applied at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

in July 1970 majoring in

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

obtaining a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

degree in June 1972. Van der Hoeven worked as a economics teacher in Maastricht from June 1969 until February 1987, and served as an education administrator for the Adult Commercial Vocational Training Centre in Maastricht from September 1981 until February 1987. Van der Hoeven served on the

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Maastricht from April 1974 until June 1991. Van der Hoeven worked as Chairwoman of the Supervisory board of the Limburg Technology Centre from February 1987 until June 1991. Van der Hoeven became a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

after was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the 1991 Senate election, taking office on 11 June 1991, serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Education, Culture and Science and spokesperson for education, social work and culture, and deputy spokesperson for the interior, economic affairs, social affairs,

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

and equality. After the 2002 general election, Van der Hoeven was appointed as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Balkenende I cabinet, taking office on 22 July 2002. The cabinet fell just four months later on 16 October 2002 after tensions in the coalition over the stability of the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List (, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands that existed from 2002 to 2008 at a national level and was named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was ...

(LPF) and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity. After the 2002 general election, Van der Hoeven returned to the House of Representatives, taking office on 30 January 2003. Following the cabinet formation of 2003 Van der Hoeven continued as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Balkenende II cabinet, taking office on 27 May 2003. This cabinet fell on 30 June 2006 after the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

(D66) had lost confidence in the functioning of Minister of Integration and Asylum Affairs

Rita Verdonk Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a Dutch politician and businesswoman formerly affiliated with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and later Proud of the Netherlands (TON), which she founded in 2 ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Balkenende III cabinet with Van der Hoeven remaining as Minister of Education, Culture and Science, taking office on 7 July 2006. After the 2006 general election Van der Hoeven again returned to the House of Representatives, taking office on 30 November 2006. Following the cabinet formation of 2006 Van der Hoeven was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Balkenende IV cabinet, taking office on 22 February 2007. The Balkenende IV cabinet fell on 20 February 2010 after tensions in the coalition over the extension of the Dutch involvement in the Task Force Urozgan of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. In May 2010 Van der Hoeven announced that she would not stand for the 2010 general election. Following the cabinet formation of 2010 Van der Hoeven was not given a cabinet post in the new cabinet. The Balkenende IV cabinet was replaced by the Rutte I cabinet on 14 October 2010.

Biography

Early life

After completing her secondary education she trained as a primary school

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. She went on to gain a secondary teaching certificate in English, after which she attended courses in higher management for non-profit organisations at the Institute of Social Sciences and business management at the Open University in

. From 1969 she taught at home economics schools and from 1971 at a junior secondary commercial school, where she later became a school counsellor. Until 1987 she was head of the Adult Commercial Vocational Training Centre in

, after which she served as the head of the

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

Technology Centre until 1991.

Politics

Dmitry Medvedev in Yuzhno-Sakhalink 18 February 2009-2

From 1985 to 1991, Van der Hoeven was a member of the municipal council of

. From 1991 to 2002, Member of the House of Representatives and Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2002 to 2007. In 2005, she caused an uproar in a debate about the teaching of

Intelligent Design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

in the country's schools. Van der Hoeven said that Charles Darwin's theories were incomplete and that new things had been discovered by proponents of intelligent design. The then Dutch Minister of Education later announced that she did not intend to introduce the creationist ideas into the school curricula but only wanted to confront their adherents with the supporters of the theory of evolution. Minister of Economic Affairs from 2007 to 2010, she has held a variety of social and cultural posts, including membership of the governing board of the Domstad Primary Teacher Training College in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and the Southern Dutch Opera Association, and membership of the ‘’t Vervolg’ theatre group. On 11 March 2011, Van der Hoeven was appointed Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. Her opponents have voiced concerns that she lacks expertise on energy matters, while her supporters point out that her work as Minister of Economic Affairs included many energy issues, and that she has extensive contacts with major

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

members. She took over from Nobuo Tanaka on 1 September 2011. On 1 September 2015, she was succeeded by

Fatih Birol Fatih Birol (born 22 March 1958) is a Turkish economist and energy expert, who has served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) since 1 September 2015. During his time in charge of the IEA, he has taken a series of s ...

Later career

Since October 2016, van der Hoeven has been Vice Chairwoman of the High-level Panel of the European Decarbonisation Pathways Initiative within the European Commission. In addition, she holds several board memberships.

Corporate boards

* Innogy, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2016) * TotalEnergies SE, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2016)

Non-profit organizations

Rocky Mountain Institute RMI, or Rocky Mountain Institute, is a global, independent, non-partisan non-profit organization co-founded in the United States by Amory Lovins. As of 2025, RMI's stated mission is to transform "global energy systems through market-driven solut ...

(RMI), Board de Trustees (since 2015)

Personal life

Van der Hoeven was married to Lou Buytendijk, who was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in 2005 and succumbed to his illness in 2012. Because of her husband's illness she is active in the Dutch Alzheimer's Foundation and currently serves as its president.Als de mist neerdaalt
''Jong-dement.nl''

Decorations

References

External links

M.J.A. (Maria) van der Hoeven
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeven, Maria van der 1949 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch women bloggers Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in France Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch school administrators Intelligent design advocates International Energy Agency officials Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of education of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Maastricht Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Officers of the Legion of Honour Politicians from Maastricht People from Meerssen Women government ministers of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch women educators 21st-century Dutch women educators 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch businesswomen 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch women politicians Christian Democratic Appeal MPs