I serve as President of the University of Twente, where I chair the Executive Board, from September 1, 2021.Before this, I had the privilege to serve as Rector Magnificus of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for six years. Since January 2020, I also served on the board of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU, now UNL); since January 2021 as chair of the steering group on education and research. I grew up in India, and moved to the USA on a scholarship to train in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics (Cornell University and University of Michigan, USA). After earning my PhD at Michigan in 1996, I worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. Following a short sojourn in industry at the Advanced Science and Technology Laboratory of AstraZeneca in Loughborough, UK, I was appointed full professor at the University of Twente in 2004. In 2013 I became director of the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam, and was appointed Rector of VU Amsterdam in 2015. During my career I have had extraordinary or adjunct appointments at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, Radboud University Medical Center, and have been a Senior Fellow at the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz in Germany.My research has focused on nanoscale protein biophysics, with particular emphasis on protein folding, protein misfolding and aggregation. My work has often involved using fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy, single molecule spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. My work has been recognized by the Fluorescence Young Investigator Award of the Biophysical Society, and I am an elected member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) and the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE).I serve on the Supervisory Board of the Concertgebouw, and have been appointed chair of a national advisory committee on diversity and inclusion in higher education and research by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. Since December 2022, I was appointed to the advisory council for science, technology and innovation (AWTI), which advises the Dutch government and parliament on policy in the areas of scientific research, technological development and innovation.