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. She has been a professor of Science, Policy, Social Impact and Healthcare at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

since 1 July 2018.

Biography

Early life

Mariëtte Bussemaker was born on 15 January 1961 in Capelle aan den IJssel in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

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 in Oegstgeest. She subsequently studied at the University of Amsterdam, where she obtained a Bachelor of Social Science and a Master of Social Science ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in political science (specializing in Political philosophy). In 1993, Bussemaker received a Doctor of Philosophy 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 (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 The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

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. 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, and that she would consider the election of his Republican competitor

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

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 member and Finance Minister Wouter Bos expressed a similar sympathy for Barack Obama. 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, 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