David de Wied: Eminent scientist and academic leader: A personal note

Abstract

David de Wied was a natural leader with many a talent. He was the director of the Rudolf Magnus Institute at Utrecht University and president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He coached over 75 Ph.D. students and hosted some 200 foreign scientists who joined him in his multidisciplinary neuropeptide research. Many of them became lifelong friends, frequenting the home of Liedje and David de Wied. Born in Deventer (The Netherlands) on January 12th, 1925, David de Wied's early boyhood first in Deventer and later in Leeuwarden appears to have been no different from that of any other provincial Dutch boys in pre-war Holland. After the war David enrolled at Groningen University to study medicine. Subsequently he specialized in experimental pharmacology. To understand the determination of David de Wied is to understand the drive of a Jewish young man, who during the war, had been forced to go underground and unable to develop in a free and independent manner. Therefore, later in life, time became very precious to him and everything that came across his path had to be taken seriously. In this short sketch of David de Wied I will try to highlight his outstanding scientific accomplishments as well as his personality as both have inspired a generation of young scientists. It is a great honour and a pleasure to be part of this meeting in memory of David de Wied.