I was born in Zaandam and completed my secondary school education in The Hague. After completing my A-levels at Gymnasium Sorghvliet, I attended George Mason High School in Falls Church, Virginia, for a year.
I studied political science in the 70’s of last century at the Free University in Amsterdam. I was actively involved in the student movement as, among others, the chairman of the Free University Student Council, a member of the University council and an active member of radical leftist organizations.
Subsequently, I spent more than twenty years working for universities. I held the positions of Director of the Law Faculty at Maastricht University, Director of Student Services at Amsterdam University and Strategy Director at Leiden University. I also lived and worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for half a year. Here, I mainly focused on the position of students in the American higher education system.
From 2001 to 2010, I was consultant and partner at Andersson Elffers Felix (www.aef.nl), a strategy consultancy firm in Utrecht. This is where I familiarized myself with consulting and executed assignments in different fields, with a focus on education.
In 2010 and 2011 I worked as an independent consultant, doing assignments mainly for educational institutions and at the same time exploring opportunities to get a job in Africa.
From August 2011 until the end of 2016 I worked and lived in Accra, Ghana. I was Executive Director Business at the Accra branch of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). I also have been President of Ghana Netherlands Business and Culture Council (a Chamber of Commerce).
In 2017 and 2018 I worked as an interim manager Global Development for a ten month period at NUFFIC (www.nuffic.nl) on the implementation of a new 5-year program for international knowledge development and cooperation between educational institutions in the Netherlands and in developing countries.
In 2019 I worked for ten months as acting Director of QANU (www.qanu.nl), a Dutch agency for quality assurance in higher education.
As of now I am doing assignments in the field of strategy, innovation and organizational development for Dutch knowledge-intensive institutions. I am also actively involved as a consultant and director in a Nigerian start up (Energy Talent Company, www.energytalentco.com). We recruit, train and outhire young people for the solar energy sector.
For more detailed information about my professional activities and achievements, see my extended CV: CV Victor Rutgers (English) 2022
I have lived with my partner Erica Burggraaff for more than 50 years. Our children Wander (1989) and Evelien (1992) have been international students and are now living and working in London and Amsterdam.