Seven residents of Voorschoten Receive Royal Honors

Prof. Dr. Roeser has been a full-time professor of ethics at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management (TBM), holding the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Chair since April 2012. Since January 2021, she has been head of the Values, Technology, and Innovation department. Her research focuses on theoretical, fundamental topics related to the nature of moral knowledge, intuitions, emotions, art, and evaluative aspects of risk, as well as on urgent and hotly debated public issues on which her theoretical research can shed new light, such as nuclear energy, climate change, and public health issues.

She focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of methods in bioethics, the philosophy of medicine, and the ethics and philosophy of technology. Through her research, she has brought attention to the relationship between risk management and human emotions, thereby making a unique contribution to science. She is known worldwide as a researcher who, from an ethical perspective, demonstrates that emotions regarding technological and other risks are not irrational but often stem from rational and sound considerations and should be given a place in the debate.

After completing her studies, Prof. Dr. Roeser began working as a postdoctoral researcher at VU University Amsterdam. In September 2001, she became a full-time assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of TBM, at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). She also continued to work part-time at VU University Amsterdam as a researcher for another year and earned her Ph.D. in 2002. In April 2012, she became a full-time professor of ethics at Delft University of Technology.

From September 2010 – August 2013, Prof. Dr. Roeser combined her full-time position as a professor at Delft University of Technology with a part-time position at the University of Twente, where she served as a special professor of Political Philosophy and Ethics, focusing in particular on humanistic reflections on political, social, and ethical issues arising from the influence of technology on society. To carry out her research, she has received significant, substantial, and personal grants, including both a VENI and a VIDI grant.

She is currently one of the six principal investigators and deputy program director of the NWO Gravity Project “The Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies.” In addition, she is skilled at implementing and commercializing her research findings. Prof. Roeser is the author of numerous publications in national and international scientific journals. She has also made many public appearances both in the Netherlands and abroad, through which she makes her research findings accessible to the general public.

Prof. Dr. Roeser not only conducts research but also serves as an educator and mentor. She has taught and developed courses for universities in Amsterdam, Delft, and Twente; serves on various advisory councils and national and international editorial boards; has served on selection and evaluation committees; and has been a member of numerous academic boards. At the request of the TU Delft Board of Governors, she has developed a new strategy for technical ethics education aimed at establishing mandatory ethics courses for all bachelor’s and master’s students at TU Delft. This new strategy is currently being implemented.

She has since supervised various postdoctoral and PhD projects. She has also guided many students through their bachelor’s and master’s programs and has served on PhD committees for students at various universities in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2013, she received the “PhD Supervisor of the Year” award from the PhD Council of the Netherlands Research School in Philosophy. Earlier, in 2001, she and a colleague received an award from the Board of Trustees of VU Amsterdam for their proposal to increase the number of women in senior academic positions.

On January 1, 2022, Prof. Dr. Roeser was appointed by Royal Decree as a member of the Health Council—the independent scientific advisory body to the government and parliament—in recognition of her exceptional expertise in her field of research. Previously, she served as a member of the temporary Commission on the Sustainability of Medical Devices. Since May 2021, she has been a member of the Health Council’s deliberative group. Prof. Roeser is being honored as a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for her exceptional contributions to the field of science.

Mr. Dedden became vice president of the Red Cross, Voorschoten chapter, in 2007. Four years later, he took over as president. Among other things, he led the board and the organization; he was responsible for volunteer management and for providing training to young people and adults. In addition, he coordinated the local Red Cross door-to-door collection in Voorschoten and actively participated in the weekly flea market. He stepped down as president at the end of 2015.

In 2008, Mr. Dedden was appointed by Royal Decree as an alternate member, and in 2010 as a full member, of the Chapter of the Military Order of William. In this capacity, he has, among other things, conducted several investigations that have led to nominations for the Military Order of William. In 2015, he became secretary of the Royal Association of Knights of the Military Order of William. In this role, his responsibilities included mentoring newly appointed knights and introducing them to the other knights, organizing the association’s annual meeting, and the annual gathering of the knights. In addition, he represented the association at various commemorative ceremonies, including those at the Grebbeberg and in Margraten.

From 2011 until his death in 2021—at the age of 104—Mr. Dedden arranged the annual guidance, accommodations, and itinerary for British veteran Kenneth Mayhew, a recipient of the Military Order of William since April 24, 1946, and his wife during their stay in the Netherlands. From 2013 to 2021, Mr. Dedden served as president of the Association for Dutch Military War and Service Victims (BNMO), which supports veterans and service victims who were deployed at home and abroad on behalf of the Dutch government. He was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Association and, among other things, ensured that a Police division joined the BNMO.

Since the summer of 2022, Mr. Dedden has served as chairman of the Voorschoten chapter of De Zonnebloem. He oversees fundraising and assists with, among other things, the sale of De Zonnebloem raffle tickets. Mr. Dedden, a retired Major General of the Infantry, is being honored as a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his service in the areas of veterans’ affairs, advocacy for war victims, and social welfare.

At the age of 18, Mr. De Meijer became a nature warden with the IVN branch for The Hague and Surrounding Areas. He was the initiator, compiler, and editor of the quarterly magazine “Natuur en Den Haag” (now titled “Duizendblad”) and the hiking program “Stappen in de Natuur,” which is still running today. In addition, he organized and coordinated the Nature Conservation Working Group. In 2022, he was made an honorary member of the IVN branch for The Hague and Surrounding Areas in recognition of his many years of practical and administrative service to the association, including his service as chair of the IVN branch for The Hague and Surrounding Areas; chair of the IVN district of South Holland/Zeeland; and vice chair of the national IVN.

From 1979 to 2006, Mr. De Meijer served on the Executive Board of the South Holland Landscape Management Foundation, first as secretary and later as chair. From 1994 to 2008, he also served as treasurer of the board of the Netherlands Landscape Management Foundation. Mr. De Meijer has served at various times as a member of the General Board of the Rijnland Water Board and the De Oude Rijnstromen Water District, which falls within its jurisdiction. For more than 25 years, he has been actively involved in a wide range of policy issues, including water level management in peat meadows, biodiversity, and the tax system for water boards.

In 2011, Mr. De Meijer joined the board of the Santvoorde Agricultural Nature Association. He also serves as coordinator of the Meadow Bird Watch program, where he acts as a liaison between the volunteer meadow bird watchers, ensures the smooth operation of their activities, and maintains contact with agricultural land users. In 2016, Mr. De Meijer was one of the founders of Coöperatie De Groene Klaver, one of the Netherlands’ certified associations for agricultural nature management. As a board member, he played a major role in securing funding for the Staatsbosbeheer Westeinde meadow bird reserve and in accounting for the budgets spent. He also made a significant contribution to the establishment of the “Bewust Boeren Rijnland” project.

Since 2016, he has served as secretary of BoerenNatuur Zuid-Holland, an organization that coordinates provincial interests in agricultural nature management, and as a member of the core team and the Administrative Consultative Committee. In addition, he has participated for many years in the Green-Blue Consultative Committee and its predecessors. In this role, he represents the agricultural collectives that carry out agricultural nature management in South Holland. Furthermore, he is one of the 12 provincial secretaries at BoerenNatuur, a national association of the 40 agricultural collectives that, together with some 11,000 farmers, carry out agricultural nature and landscape management throughout the Netherlands.

In addition to the activities mentioned above, Mr. De Meijer has been an active volunteer for Staatsbosbeheer’s Westvoorden management unit in the Duivenvoordse and Veenzijdse polders for over 30 years; he served as a project coordinator for De Groene Motor at Zuid-Hollands Landschap; and during the breeding season, he searches for and catalogs the nests of meadow birds for the Santvoorde Agricultural Nature Association. For his contributions in the fields of nature and landscape conservation and water management, among others, Mr. De Meijer is being honored with the title of Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Mr. Sweys was a co-founder and chairman of the Piggy Interest Group from 1997 to 2005. He founded the group during the classical swine fever epidemic to represent the interests of veterinary staff, who were being deployed en masse across the country. In early 1999, Mr. Sweys decided to put his veterinary knowledge and skills into practice as a volunteer on Isla Margarita (Venezuela) through the Stichting Dierenhulp Venezuela. For a year, he worked there performing surgeries, spaying, and neutering stray animals; training local veterinarians; and educating the public.

In 2010, Mr. Sweys joined the board of the Kyokushin Budokai Armed Forces Foundation as secretary. His responsibilities included organizing tournaments and joint training sessions throughout the country, managing the organization, and developing and maintaining the website. Since 2011, Mr. Sweys has served as a volunteer (dojo assistant) and trainer at the Ruud Muller Dojo in Leidschendam and the Muller Karate School in Alphen aan den Rijn. He maintains the dojo (training hall), regularly leads training sessions, and assists exam candidates with the extensive preparations for their karate exams and competitions.

From 2012 to 2020, Mr. Sweys served as a board member and co-coordinator of the Bezuidenhout Neighborhood Watch Team—a group of volunteers dedicated to the neighborhood, with the goal of making it even safer, more pleasant, and more attractive as a place to live (permanently)—and as the initiator, founder, and chair of the Neighborhood Watch Netherlands Foundation. As chairman, Mr. Sweys’s responsibilities included providing nationwide training to newly formed neighborhood watch teams, as well as at the police academy and the Ministry of Security and Justice.

In 2016, Mr. Sweys was a co-founder of the Bezuidenhout Community First Responder Foundation. As a board member, he worked, among other things, to maintain and further expand the 6-minute zone—which was officially launched in 2016—in Bezuidenhout. In 2020, Mr. Sweys founded the Stichting Hartveilig Voorschoten. The foundation is responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, and expansion of the existing AEDs, as well as for increasing the number of citizen first responders in Voorschoten. These citizen first responders are—via the ambulance dispatch center (112)—are on call 24/7 in the event that someone suffers a cardiac arrest. In addition, the foundation provides education at elementary schools in Voorschoten and, since April 2023, has also been offering CPR and AED courses for adults and children certified by the Dutch Resuscitation Council.

In addition to the activities mentioned above, Mr. Sweys has also been active as a smoke detector volunteer with the Dutch Burns Foundation (since 2013); a volunteer with the Red Cross (since 2013); a member of the Veterans Search Team (since 2017); and chairman of the Voorschoten First Aid Association (2018–2019). Mr. Sweys is being honored as a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his contributions in the fields of first aid, safety, and sports, among others.

Mr. Stoop has been active in the Protestant Congregation of Voorschoten since the 1980s and, prior to that, in the Aula grassroots community. Among other things, he was involved in providing shelter for a group of refugees at the church; he served as chair of the Board of Deacons of the Protestant Congregation of Voorschoten for 12 years and as (vice)chair of a regional consultative body for the diaconates in the Leiden region for 11 years.

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Mr. Stoop volunteered with Stichting WeerWerk, a foundation dedicated to addressing long-term (youth) unemployment in Leiden and surrounding municipalities. Among other things, he was involved in the project for the ferry across the Vliet to Vlietlanden, until the Vlietland Bridge was built. From September 1993 to January 2000, Mr. Stoop served as chairman of the Voorschoten Refugee Work Foundation. In addition, he was a member of the Provincial Platform of the national Association for Refugee Work in the Netherlands for three years.

Mr. Stoop was also actively involved with the Adegeest nursing home (now the Adegeest Residential Care Center, part of the Florence Care Group Foundation). From June 1994 to January 2000, he served as a liaison officer and member of the Central Complaints Committee of the Catholic Nursing and Care Foundation—the predecessor of the Florence Care Group Foundation—at the Adegeest nursing home. He subsequently served as vice chair of the nursing home’s board for three years.

As a member of the Council of Cooperating Churches in Voorschoten, Mr. Stoop was involved in the founding of SchuldHulpMaatje Voorschoten in 2011. He is one of the two members of the Council of Cooperating Churches in Voorschoten’s supervisory committee, and as a committee member, his role is to pay specific attention to the work of SchuldHulpMaatje in Voorschoten.

More than 10 years ago, Mr. Stoop was inducted as a member—a knight—of the Order of St. John in the Netherlands, a chivalric order with a Protestant Christian foundation; and he is active in the charitable foundation that carries out the Order’s activities, the Johanniter Hulpverlening Foundation, serving, among other roles, as an editorial board member and photographer for the Johanniternieuws; as a driver for older members, enabling them to continue attending events; and as a volunteer at various local activities. In addition, he volunteered during vacation weeks for older adults—with or without disabilities—who are no longer able to go on vacation independently. Mr. Stoop is being honored as a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his contributions in the areas of religious life, poverty alleviation, and social welfare.

Mr. Van Valderen became a volunteer at the Leiden Christian Korfball Club Pernix in 1981. As a committee member, he made a very active contribution to the canteen and clubhouse committee, the youth committee, and the facilities maintenance committee. From 1982 to 2015, Mr. Van Valderen was active with LCKV Youth Vacations, serving, among other roles, as a staff member and head counselor; a member of the audit committee; co-founder of the parent survey committee; and he was jointly responsible for ensuring the smooth departure of buses to various camps in the Netherlands and abroad, as well as the return of the buses.

From 2013 to 2021, Mr. Van Valderen served as president of the Kleffensplantsoen Tenants’ Association in Voorschoten, a 50-unit apartment complex. After stepping down as president, he remained involved with the tenants’ association as an advisor to the current board. Since 2014, Mr. Van Valderen has served as a “Motorboat Instructor” at Marine Zeilvereniging De Boet during the boating season. Since 2022, Mr. Van Valderen has been a volunteer at Topaz, Zuydtwijck location—a nursing home in Leiden for people with dementia. As the skipper of the boat “De Zuydtwijck 2,” he takes residents from various care facilities in Leiden and the surrounding area on sightseeing cruises.

In addition to the activities mentioned above, Mr. Van has also served as a team leader for the Docos Leiden soccer club; as a caregiver for family members; and as a company emergency response officer, in addition to his regular work. Mr. Van Valderen is being honored as a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his contributions in the fields of korfball, youth welfare, and residents’ interests, among others.

Mr. Van der Zeeuw began his volunteer career in 1966 as a volunteer at the Anker Clubhouse. There, he taught dance classes, ran dance clubs, and helped organize camps. In 1970, Mr. Van der Zeeuw became president of the Concordia Gymnastics and Volleyball Club in Leiden. In 1990, he took the initiative to explore the possibility of a merger with the Groen-Wit Gymnastics Club in order to ensure Concordia’s continued existence. After the merger, Mr. Van der Zeeuw remained active as a volunteer for the new Groen-Wit club for another nine years: as a member of the technical committee and as a volleyball team coach.

In the 1980s, Mr. Van der Zeeuw served as chair of the parent council at the Hofdijck School for Christian Elementary Education in Oegstgeest for over four years, during which time he, among other things, launched the school newspaper. From 1996 to 2018, Mr. Van der Zeeuw served as president of the Wassenaar Water Sports Association. Under his leadership, a completely new building was constructed on the harbor grounds—a unique location with a stunning view of the entire harbor.

In April 2015, Mr. Van der Zeeuw became chairman of the Apolloflat II Homeowners’ Association (VvE) in Leiden. Under his leadership, a large number of maintenance projects were carried out and a sustainability initiative was launched. Since 2021, Mr. Van der Zeeuw has served as chairman of the Cronesteyn Garden Association in Leiden. Mr. Van der Zeeuw is being honored as a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his contributions in the fields of gardening, housing management, and water sports, among others.