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Professor of Psychology Liesbeth Woertman was elected best lecturer in the degree programme by her students no fewer than five times. In 2008, she was even proclaimed Lecturer of the Year, the best lecturer of all of Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. On 14 October, she gave her farewell lecture, having been granted emeritus status. She was awarded her royal honour by Acting Mayor of Utrecht Peter den Oudsten, becoming Royal Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

The Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Marcel van Aken, praised Woertman: "She is a source of inspiration for young individuals, often women, in the field of sexology, especially with regard to body image and its relationship to self-image.”

Evening classes

Woertman has regularly told the media about her field of research, and about her personal life. In the television programme De Verwondering (Amazement), the Utrecht professor had her extraordinary life story set out. It showed Woertman leaving secondary school (MAVO) at the age of 15, having failed seven subjects. She went to work, graduated from the MAVO (junior general secondary education) after evening classes, and then continued her education. She also became pregnant with her first child when she was 17, and had a family with two children and four foster children by the age of 23. At 33, she received her degree in Psychology, and she was appointed professor at 55.

Talented and warm

Van Aken says that Woertman developed into a talented lecturer at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, who combined educational and didactic quality with a warm and personal interest in her students. She later became director of the Psychology degree programme, one of the largest at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. In that capacity, too, she is praised for her involvement in the degree programme, particularly with individual students.

Woertman shows a tremendous commitment to those in society who suffer from the pressure created by the intense focus on achieving the perfect appearance

Never carried away

Van Aken: ‘Professor Woertman's research and teaching have always been fashioned in a very sincere and personal way. She has never allowed herself to be carried away in seeking as much academic honour as possible, but has always stressed the relevance of her research. This is also reflected in two books she wrote for a wider audience: Moeders mooiste (Mother's Little Beauty) and Je bent al mooi (You're Already Pretty).’ The combination of a special life, a special degree of academic and personal integrity, and a tremendous commitment to those in society who suffer from the pressure created by the intense focus on achieving the perfect appearance, has led to Liesbeth Woertman becoming Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.