Sibrandes Poppema (born July 24, 1949, in Emmen, Netherlands) is a Dutch Canadian university professor and academic administrator. He is currently the Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Professor and was appointed President of

Sunway University Sunway University is a private university in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. It has a 10 hectare (24 acre) campus comprising academic and residential blocks adjacent to the Sunway Lagoon theme park. It offers undergradua ...

, Malaysia in January 2021. He was the president of the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

in the city of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Netherlands from September 1, 2008, until September 30, 2018. During his tenure the University of Groningen 4 year bachelor study success improved from less than 50% to more than 75%, the university became the best classical university in the Netherlands according to student satisfaction and in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) the university rose from #112 to #59. Poppema previously served as Dean of Medical Sciences and as vice-president of the

University Medical Center Groningen The University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG, nl, Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen), formerly Groningen University Hospital, is the main hospital in Groningen, Netherlands. The medical centre is affiliated with the University of Groninge ...

from September 1999 till 2008. He was Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University Hospital in Groningen from 1995 till 1999. From 1987 till 1995 he worked in Canada as the Director of Laboratory Medicine at the

Cross Cancer Institute Cross Cancer Institute is the comprehensive cancer centre for northern Alberta. The institute, named for Wallace Warren Cross, is located in Edmonton near the southwest corner of the University of Alberta, and is one of two tertiary cancer centr ...

and Professor of

Pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. From 1980 till 1987 Poppema was a

clinician A clinician is a health care professional typically employed at a skilled nursing facility or clinic. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for pa ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

in the Department of Pathology of the University of Groningen. In 1985 he became the first J.K. de Cock Professor of

Immunopathology Immunopathology is a branch of medicine that deals with immune responses associated with disease. It includes the study of the pathology of an organism, organ system, or disease with respect to the immune system, immunity, and immune responses. In ...

. From September 2015 until January 2018, Poppema was vice chair of the Dutch Association of Universities (VSNU). From December 2015 until July 2020 he was a member of the Council of Confucius Institute Headquarters.

Recognition

On April 27, 2007, Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

awarded Poppema a

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

for his scientific achievements. In 2020, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded Poppema the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his achievements in strengthening scientific and educational ties between Germany and the Netherlands. Poppema has been a member of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (ACTI). He also was the recipient of Medal of Honor of the City of Groningen., and of the Medal of Honor of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Since October 2011 he is

Honorary Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

General in the Northern Netherlands for the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

Education and research

Poppema obtained his Gymnasium Beta diploma at the Ubbo Emmius High School in

Stadskanaal Stadskanaal () is a town and municipality with a population of 32,715 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was named after the canal Stadskanaal. From 1800 until 1900 this area was ideal for its peat mining, and so ...

in 1968 and studied

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

at the University of Groningen from 1968 until 1974. He trained as a pathologist and performed his PhD research on the Immunopathology of

Hodgkin’s Disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

at the Department of Pathology of the University of Groningen (1975-1979). In 1978 he worked under the guidance of Prof.

Karl Lennert Karl Lennert, M.D. (4 June 1921 in Fürth, Germany – 27 August 2012 in Kiel, Germany) was a German physician and pathologist. Early life and education Lennert was born in Fürth, which is now contiguous with Nuremberg, in Bavaria. After g ...

at the Department of Pathology of the

Christian Albrechts University Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: link=no, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public University, public research university in ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, Germany. From 1979 till 1980 he was a

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

at the Department of Pathology of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, that was chaired at the time by Prof.

Baruj Benacerraf Baruj Benacerraf (; October 29, 1920 – August 2, 2011) was a Venezuelan-American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell s ...

. He has published several hundred papers in the fields of Immunology, Transplantation, Hematology, Oncology, and Pathology that have been cited over 18,450 times.

Personal

Poppema is married with Joke Poppema de Jonge. They have three children and eight grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poppema, Sibrandes Dutch pathologists Dutch medical researchers 1949 births Living people People from Drenthe University of Groningen alumni