Lodi Nauta, professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Groningen, will be the Royal Academy’s new vice-president effective 1 April 2025. He will succeed Ivo Giesen, who became director of the Justice Ministry’s Research and Data Centre (WODC) in September. Nauta will spend one and a half days a week in his new position for the next three years, combining it with his work in Groningen. Clara Mulder will serve a second three-year term on the Academy Board.
Lodi Nauta was appointed professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Groningen in 2010. In 2007-2008, he was Visiting Professor at Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence. Nauta studies the fault lines in the history of ideas, particularly the transition from medieval to modern philosophy and science. For example, he has published books on the fifteenth-century Italian humanist Lorenzo Valle (a precursor of Erasmus) and on the role of language and language use in philosophy. He has received the Spinoza Prize, the highest award in Dutch academia, for his work.
Nauta served as dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Groningen and is currently a member of the scientific advisory boards of both the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). He was elected to the Academy in 2011 and has been active there as a jury member, chairman of the Philosophy and Theology Chamber, and chairman of a committee charged with rethinking the Academy’s advisory role.
As the Academy’s vice-president and general secretary, Lodi Nauta intends to address its role and position within the Dutch academic landscape and the relationship between politics, policymaking, and science and scholarship. In his own words: 'I am eager to play my part in ensuring a powerful interpretation of the voice of science, and in continuing to consolidate the Academy's position and reputation. It seems to me that a powerful interpretation of that voice is crucial in the times in which we live.’