Irene and Jeroen both started studying Computer Science in 1985, at a time when computers were far from commonplace. More than forty years later, they are still connected to VU Amsterdam: through their work, their rowing club and their children. Their youngest son is even studying Computer Science, just as they did back then, and is also a member of Okeanos rowing club. It’s a story that calls for a journey back in time.
Translation of the Dutch text by Romy Veul | Image: Own image | 20 October 2026
When I speak to Irene and Jeroen online, Jeroen is at work at Amsterdam UMC, while Irene is at VU Amsterdam working on her PhD. An appropriate setting, given how closely their lives have been intertwined with the university for so many years. It all began 41 years ago, when they both chose a degree programme that was still in its infancy.
What was it like choosing such a new subject in the pre-computer era?
Jeroen: ‘At the information session about Computer Science, we were told that computers would conquer the world. That appealed to me. The stories told by lecturers and students also got me excited about the subject.’
Irene: ‘I mainly thought: computers, that sounds like fun. The only thing was that, by the end of the first year, we had barely seen a computer. We spent most of our time studying mathematics. I even considered dropping out and studying Economics instead. But my mother suggested combining the two degrees, so that’s what I did. Fortunately, the course became much more interesting after the first year.’
‘The arrival of generative AI is actually prompting the same debates as the arrival of computers did back then’
Thankfully! What was the degree like for you?
Jeroen: ‘A lot of students dropped out during the first year. But towards the end of that year, we finally started learning to programme. Not on an ordinary PC, but on a mainframe: a large central computer with a monochrome monitor.’
Irene: ‘One striking thing was that there were only three women compared with 197 men. All three of us women completed the degree. We can’t say the same about the men.’
Jeroen: ‘One of our lecturers was Andrew Tanenbaum, an internationally renowned computer scientist. He developed the operating system that would later influence the development of Linux.
‘I particularly enjoyed the practical sessions. Every day, we were working in a field that was still very much evolving. AI, for example, was already a hot topic, partly in the form of “expert systems”: systems into which you could feed the knowledge of experts.’
Irene: ‘My PhD research focuses on accountants, and AI is now a major topic in that field too. What happens to their work when AI takes over certain tasks? The arrival of generative AI is actually prompting the same debates as the arrival of computers did back then. Even in those days, we could see that new digital possibilities brought both opportunities and pitfalls.’
After graduating, you went in different directions. What did you go on to do?
Jeroen: ‘I specialised in medical informatics and did a placement in the anaesthesiology department. Later, I joined the pathology department at what was then VUmc. After my graduation placement, I was asked to pursue a PhD. I’ve now been working at the former VUmc, now Amsterdam UMC, for 37 years.’
Irene: ‘Combining my two degrees led me into the business world. After completing a programme in accountancy and financial control, also at VU Amsterdam, I spent many years working at Unilever as a financial manager, followed by a role at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants. For the past five years, I’ve been working independently as a researcher, writer and lecturer.’
‘Jeroen and I had seen each other around during our degree, but it was at Okeanos that we really got to know each other’
You’ve been together for 37 years now. Where did the spark happen?
Jeroen: ‘Not during the practical sessions, but at the Bosbaan rowing lake, at the Okeanos student rowing club. I’d already rowed at secondary school and became a competitive rower during my student days. I still meet up with my rowing friends from back then a few times a year.’
Irene: ‘I had no rowing experience, but I joined Okeanos for the social side of things. Since there were so few women on our degree course, I thought it would be fun to meet people outside my studies. Jeroen and I had seen each other around during our degree, but it was at Okeanos that we really got to know each other.’
Jeroen: ‘We served on a committee together, raising money from sponsors. That’s where the spark happened, in 1989.’
Now the next generation is rowing too. Is that a coincidence?
Irene: ‘Absolutely! Our children make their own choices. Our youngest son, Lucas, just happens to have joined Okeanos too, alongside his Computer Science degree at VU Amsterdam. When he competes at the Bosbaan, we often cycle along the bank to follow the race.’
Irene: ‘Our daughter Elisabeth, who is currently taking a minor at VU Amsterdam that includes courses in bioinformatics, rows with Asopos de Vliet in Leiden. Our eldest son, incidentally, has no interest in rowing at all. And that’s absolutely fine too.’
Your youngest son is studying the same subject you studied all those years ago. Do you recognise the degree as it was back then?
Irene: ‘The degree has changed in many ways, but the mathematical foundations, among other things, are still the same. At the same time, Computer Science at VU Amsterdam is now a very international programme. In our day, the textbooks were in English, but all the lectures were delivered in Dutch.’
‘Now that two of our children are studying at VU Amsterdam, Irene can regularly have lunch with our youngest son or daughter’
Irene, you’re now a student at VU Amsterdam again. What made you decide to start a PhD?
Irene: ‘I’ve actually always wanted to do a PhD, but I thought I’d left it too late. Then I discovered that there was a part-time PhD programme for people who want to explore a research topic further based on their professional experience. In the end, I thought: why not just go for it?’
What does it feel like to be back at VU Amsterdam after all these years?
Irene: ‘It’s absolutely lovely. Some things have stayed exactly the same, such as the large lecture theatre and the canteen. At the same time, the campus has become much greener, and the Mathematics and Physics building where we used to study is now being demolished. It feels both familiar and new.’
Jeroen: ‘I have to admit, I’m sometimes a little jealous. Now that two of our children are studying at VU Amsterdam, Irene can regularly have lunch with our youngest son or daughter.’
VU Amsterdam has been a constant thread running through your lives for more than forty years. Does it feel that way to you too?
Jeroen: ‘Definitely. Even STORM, the Computer Science student association, is still going strong, and it still has the same logo as it did back then.’
Irene: ‘Next year, we’ll have been married for thirty years, and Jeroen’s rowing friends will be joining us at the celebrations. At the same time, two of our children are studying at VU Amsterdam, Jeroen still works here, and I’m a VU student all over again. I could never have imagined back in 1985 that everything would come together like this.’
