Dr W Klinkert (b. 1960) has been appointed professor of Military History, in particular of the Netherlands, at the Faculty of Humanities of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He will be succeeding Prof. Ger Teitler who has retired.

Wim Klinkert has specialised in Dutch military history between 1870 and 1945. As UvA professor he will be devoting most of his time to teaching and to the supervision of PhD and master’s students of Military History. Dr Klinkert has been employed at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) as senior university lecturer in military history since 1992. His appointment at the UvA consolidates the link between the bachelor’s in defence studies of the NLDA and the master’s in Military History (Strategic Studies) of the UvA. Dr Klinkert has been appointed part-time; he will be present at the UvA one day a week.

Dr Klinkert studied history at Leiden University and specialised in national history. After his graduation he fulfilled military service as academically trained reserve officer at the Koninklijke Militaire Academie (KMA; Royal Military Academy) where he became acquainted with military history. After military service he became lecturer at KMA in the rank of lieutenant and obtained his PhD degree at Leiden University in 1992 with a thesis on the defence of the Netherlands from 1874 till 1914.

In his publications, Dr Klinkert focuses on aspects of Dutch military history from 1870 till 1945, the military history of the Dutch province of Brabant, and the history of military education. He contributed to several publications and headed a number of ‘battle field tours’ for military educational institutes and military units to First and Second World War battlefields, both in the Netherlands and abroad. His current research specialisation is the First World War.
Dr Klinkert fulfils several advisory positions and support positions in the Cadet Corps. He became an honorary member of the Cadet Corps in 1998. He is involved in the Menno van Coehoorn Foundation, and was a member of the editorial board of several historical yearbooks and journals.