Johanna Westerdijk (1883-1961) achieved fame when she was appointed as professor of plant pathology (the study of disease in plants) at the State University of Utrecht (nowadays Utrecht University). The biologist and fungus specialist thus became the first female professor in the Netherlands in 1917.
Johanna Westerdijk (1883-1961) achieved fame when she was appointed as professor of plant pathology (the study of disease in plants) at the State University of Utrecht (nowadays Utrecht University). The biologist and fungus specialist thus became the first female professor in the Netherlands in 1917.
23-year-old director
Prior to her appointment, Westerdijk became the director of a plant pathology laboratory in Amsterdam at the age of 23. In addition, she was put in charge of the fungus collection at the Central Bureau of Fungal Cultures (CBS: Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures). She was instrumental to the tremendous growth of this collection, which expanded to number some 11,000 types of fungi.
Dutch elm disease
Thanks to her extensive knowledge of fungi, Westerdijk played an influential role in the research into potato blight and Dutch elm disease. She was able to prove that the fungus Ceratocystis ulmi was responsible for the elms dying. Thanks to this discovery, the elm disease is still referred to as 'Dutch' in English usage.
Female professor
Westerdijk was very much aware of her unique position as female professor and strongly supported female students. She supervised dozens of female students working on their PhDs and was succeeded both as professor and as director by other women.