She started studying European Studies there in 1984, just before the signing of the Single European Act. “It was like a revival of Europe, a kind of positive flow of renewed attention to European integration that would benefit me throughout my career.” She was fascinated by the idea of cross-border cooperation. Her parents had always encouraged curiosity about other cultures, literature, languages, cuisines. But the concept of Europe as a peace project also appealed to her imagination.

Research in Maastricht

For a long time, she didn’t know what she would do after her studies. “I didn’t want to teach history at high school; that seemed too limiting.” Someone pointed her to the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, and she wound up as assistant to the Greek academic Panos Tsakaloyannis, who specialised in European foreign and security policy. Vanhoonacker’s many different tasks included providing training courses for high-ranking officials of member states that would assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union. She organised conferences and did research. “This was before the internet; it was a less stressful time. You showed up at the office in the morning and he’d say, ‘What shall we do today? You know what, why don’t you read a few articles about this topic.’ I published my first articles under his supervision.”

She enjoyed doing research and soon realised that, if she wanted to pursue academia, she’d have to do a PhD. And so she did: as an external PhD candidate at Leiden University, in addition to her work at EIPA, partly during her holidays. “I didn’t have a clear picture of where I wanted to go, but I was preparing for a possible next step.”

Opportunities at UM

That next step presented itself in 2001, when she was hired for one of the vacancies at UM in connection with the new bachelor’s programme in European Studies. She loved being part of the complementary team responsible for establishing this unique programme. “The timing was right. Europe was growing and thriving, the prospects for students were good.” She didn’t even notice that there were no female professors in the faculty. As a student, she’d never had a female lecturer either. “We didn’t know any better.” Her predecessor as dean created a number of chairs for talented women, and Vanhoonacker was one of them. She was given five years to prove herself on a number of criteria, and her first thought was: will I be able to do all that? “By working towards those goals, you surpass your own expectations.”

Two years after her appointment, she became head of the Political Science department. That’s where she discovered the importance of human resources; in her view, HR can either make or break a department. Then, in 2016, she accepted the position of dean – though not without hesitation. “I was afraid I’d miss my research.” Although she felt a certain sense of duty, she realised this wouldn’t be enough to sustain her for four years. So she turned for advice to people she considers wise, as she always does before making an important decision. The deciding factor: “Someone said to me, ‘You can make the position your own’.”

People manager

She runs the faculty in close consultation with others; her fellow board members or other experts, external ones if necessary. When it came to deciding on the direction of the faculty’s latest bachelor’s programme, together with Jessica Mesman (vice dean of education) and Kiran Patel (vice dean of research) she put out an open call for suggestions. After extensive study and deliberation, they decided on Digital Society. Working with a collegial board, she never feels lonely at the top. “On the contrary, I feel very supported.”

As a people manager who pays close attention to ‘the person behind the colleague’, she understands that not all of her decisions make everyone happy. “As dean you have to think of the organisation. I don’t lose sleep over it, maybe because I’m too tired”, she laughs. “But mainly because I try to do everything as honestly and transparently as possible.” She is empathetic and not quick to anger. She is said to be able to show her teeth if need be, although few have witnessed it first-hand. This makes her laugh. “If I get the sense someone is taking advantage of me, I tell them on no uncertain terms that they’re crossing the line. I never have to repeat myself.”

A career driven by duty

She doesn’t talk much about work at home, even though her husband ­– professor of architecture at the University of Liège and a former dean – is no stranger to the subject matter. “My sounding board is at the faculty.” The fact that her husband spent a long time studying, at home with their son Gil, gave her the freedom to focus on her career. “I was the breadwinner, which made me feel a certain duty to be ambitious.” Or perhaps it’s in her nature after all? “One of my son’s teachers once called him ‘secretly ambitious’. I thought: maybe I am, too. He’s a cool skater boy. He seems laidback, but at the same time he’s doing very well at University College Utrecht and staying on top of his work.” She was surprised by his independence from an early age. When, aged 12, he took his bicycle and headed for the skate park full of 16-year-olds, he wouldn’t let her come with him. “I hid behind a tree to make sure nothing went wrong.”

Although she and her husband are Flemish, she says her son is ‘mostly Dutch’. She, too, has become more direct since moving here in 1987. She appreciates the international and open flavour of Dutch universities. “I’m not sure I’d easily be able to settle in Belgium again.” Then again, she doesn’t have to. She laughs heartily at the suggestion that, if her career trajectory continues to mirror the course of European development, she may have cause for concern. “At the moment, Europe keeps me up at night more often than my job does. But that’ll only make it even more interesting to return my research after I’m done as dean.”