Mariëtte "Jet" Bussemaker (born 15 January 1961) is a retired Dutch politician. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she served as Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 5 November 2012 to 26 October 2017 in the

Second Rutte cabinet The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for ...

. She has been a professor of Science, Policy, Social Impact and Healthcare at Leiden University since 1 July 2018.

Biography

Early life

Mariëtte Bussemaker was born on 15 January 1961 in

Capelle aan den IJssel Capelle aan den IJssel (; en, Capelle on the IJssel) is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of , of which is water. It is situ ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of South Holland as the daughter of Henk Bussemaker (1928–2018) and Elly Verduyn den Boer (1932–2017). Bussemaker attended primary and secondary education at the

Rijnlands Lyceum Stichting The Rijnlands Lyceum Foundation ( nl, Stichting Het Rijnlands Lyceum) is an educational Stichting, foundation in the Netherlands encompassing nine different schools; three offering primary education and six offering secondary education ...

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cen ...

. She subsequently studied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, where she obtained a

Bachelor of Social Science The academic undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Social Science (BSS, B.Soc.Sc., or B.Soc.Sci.) requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. I ...

and a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

'' cum laude'' in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

(specializing in

Political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

). In 1993, Bussemaker received a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in political and social-cultural sciences at the same university. Between 1993 and 1998 she was assistant professor of political science at the University of Amsterdam. She had been a member of the

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...

(GL) party during that period, but in 1995 she left it to join the Labour Party (PvdA) in 1997.

Political career

In the 1998 elections Bussemaker was elected into the House of Representatives. She specialized in employment policy, health care and taxes. In 2000 she was co-initiator of a proposal to allow conscientious objection for working on Sundays. This proposal became law in 2002. She remained assistant professor during her membership of the House of Representatives, now at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

. After the election of 2006, Bussemaker was asked to become State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport in the Cabinet Balkenende IV. Bussemaker accepted and resigned as assistant professor the same day she took office as the new State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport on 22 February 2007. In May 2008, Bussemaker received strong criticism from MPs and fellow cabinet members after stating for the radio that she supported 2008 American Presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, and that she would consider the election of his

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

competitor John McCain to be a disaster. She did this in defiance of a ban on Cabinet members discussing foreign politics in a personal capacity, instituted earlier after Bussemaker's fellow

Dutch Labour party The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

member and Finance Minister

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ...

expressed a similar sympathy for

. On 20 February 2010 the Cabinet Balkenende IV fell and Bussemaker and the rest of the Labour Party cabinet members resigned on 23 February 2010. In January 2011 it was announced that Bussemaker would be part of the Board of the "Hogeschool Amsterdam" (that includes the International Business School and the Johan Cruyff University) and the University of Amsterdam, (they share the same board), she would also be dean at the Hogeschool Amsterdam. In December 2011 Jet Bussemaker and the board received heavy criticism for apparently allowing or not being able to curb widespread diploma fraud at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. Bussemaker gave the 2013

Mosse Lecture The Foundation George Mosse Fund of the University of Amsterdam (Stichting George Mosse Fonds van de Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a Dutch foundation (stichting) that aims to promote gay and lesbian studies. It was founded in 2001 at the Univer ...

, titled ''Grenzen aan homo-emancipatiebeleid: burgerwacht of politieagent? – Over de 'red lines' van het homo-emancipatiebeleid'' (''Limits to gay emancipation policy: civilian or police officer? - About the 'red lines' of the gay emancipation policy'').

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. M. (Jet) Bussemaker
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Bussemaker, Jet 1961 births Living people Dutch academic administrators Dutch education writers Dutch political scientists Dutch political philosophers Dutch political writers Dutch relationships and sexuality writers Dutch women academics Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leiden University faculty Rectors of universities in the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Ministers of Education of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Politicians from Amsterdam People from Capelle aan den IJssel People from Oegstgeest State Secretaries for Health of the Netherlands University of Amsterdam alumni University of Amsterdam faculty Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam faculty Women government ministers of the Netherlands Women political scientists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch scientists 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch scientists 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women writers 20th-century women educators 21st-century women educators