Simone Buitendijk
Professor Simone Buitendijk is the vice-chancellor of Leeds University. She is originally from the Netherlands, where her research focused on maternal and child health. Simone has two grown-up children and lives in Leeds.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory? Coming on a short holiday trip to the Yorkshire Dales in 2000. I’m from the Netherlands and didn’t really know much about Yorkshire at the time. I was absolutely bowled over by the beauty of the Dales. My first real memory of Leeds was arriving by train in the winter of 2019 before applying to become vice-chancellor. I had visited Leeds before but, again, I didn’t really know the city. It was obvious that Leeds would be a fantastic place to live and work. I redoubled my efforts to get the job!
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why?
Holland is famously flat, so I really enjoy the landscape of the Dales. If I’m not away for work, I go hiking in the Dales most weekends. My job is very busy and can be stressful, so the beauty of the countryside, the big skies, nature and the open air helps to put everything in perspective. I can’t emphasise enough how special the Dales are to me.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire?
A sunny day, walking with friends in the Dales before going out in Leeds for dinner. I particularly like being there with friends who are from outside the UK and who haven’t been here before. I like showing off my “adopted county”. I feel proud to show them such a beautiful place and enjoy their reactions.
Do you have a favourite walk – or view? The loop from Malham to Janet’s Foss and back to Malham Cove. The view from the top of the cove is breath-taking. My ambition is to climb up the side of the waterfall at Goredale Scar – I’ve not made it yet because it always looks so steep! But I am determined to do it one day, in the summer.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch?
I would choose a sportswoman rather than a sportsman: the boxer Nicola Adams. She’s a great role model for young women. I would have loved to have been here in 2015 when the university awarded her an honorary degree.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? Dame Judi Dench. She’s a brilliant actor with a good sense of humour and would have some great stories about fellow thespians.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be?
This one is easy – the ginnels of Leeds! Every city in the world has alleyways, but you only find ginnels in the north of England. Everyone from Leeds will have walked down a ginnel and knows the word, so they are commonplace. But I hadn’t heard the word, or walked down a Yorkshire ginnel before coming here, so it was a hidden gem to me. A great word from a great regional dialect.
If you could choose somewhere, or some object, from or in Yorkshire to own for a day, what would it be?
A Barbara Hepworth sculpture – the only problem would be that I might not want to give it back!
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?
Beautiful countryside and friendly, open people. The pride that people from Yorkshire have in their county stands out.
Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what? The Varsity games – the annual sports contest between students from the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University. It’s an incredible spectacle – more than 60 fixtures covering 25 sports and more than 1,400 students.
Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?
Mowgli, an Indian restaurant in Leeds city centre – delicious food and a great atmosphere.
Do you have a favourite food shop? Salvo’s Salumeria. It feels like an authentic piece of Italy in West Yorkshire.
How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for worse, in the time that you’ve known it?
I took over as vice-chancellor in September 2020, at the height of the Covid-19. I was honoured to get this fantastic job. But it was tough at times because the pandemic restrictions meant that
I couldn’t do the things you take for granted in a new city – meeting people face to face and exploring. Now is much better because I can actually go out and experience Yorkshire. I’m making up for lost time.
If you had to change one thing in, or about Yorkshire, what would that be?
The weather! The Yorkshire weather is similar to the Netherlands so I should be used to it, but still… However, the rain makes
the countryside so green, so I probably wouldn’t really want to change anything.
Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?
David Hockney – I admired him long before I found out he is from Yorkshire. It’s great that he’s now into digital art and still very active. I recently went to Salt Mills to a great exhibition of his work.
Has Yorkshire influenced your work? My last job was at a university in London. Because London is so huge, universities there cannot connect to the city in the same way that the University of Leeds does. The city of Leeds and the region has greatly influenced my work as vice-chancellor – Leeds and the university are indelibly linked.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/ performer.?Simon
Armitage, Poet Laureate and Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. I love his work – and I’m not just saying that because he works at the university. I recently read his book Walking Home: Travels with a Troubadour on the Pennine Way and I now have a new perspective when I am in the Dales.
If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, where should it be?
Bolton Abbey. On a sunny day it’s wonderful to go for a walk and have a picnic by the river taking it all in, looking at the abbey.