The decision was announced yesterday internally at Fontys by Elphi Nelissen and Fontys' Supervisory Board. Nelissen will step down from the board as of April 1st and will leave Fontys on September 1st.

The official explanation reads: 'The difference of views between the members of the Executive Board regarding the manner in which Fontys should be governed has proven too great.’

When asked about the nature of this difference by Bron (Fontys' news platform, ed.), Nelissen preferred to make no comment. "I feel that would be inappropriate towards the other members of the board, who I hold in high regard.”

To the question whether the decision was motivated by a purely substantive difference of views or by clashing personalities, Nelissen replied “a little of both, the two can never really be separated." 

TU/e

Nelissen joined the Fontys board on September 1st, 2020. Prior to that she spent twelve years working at TU Eindhoven, where in her last year she was Professor of Building Sustainability and chaired the Building Performance group. In her work as dean of the department, she maintained her focus on research. 

Her career began more than thirty years ago at Nelissen Ingenieursbureau, the engineering consultancy in Eindhoven that she owned and where she worked as director. She remained one of the directors until she joined Fontys. Since 2015 she has also chaired the Socio-Economic Council Brabant. 

Neither her additional roles nor the differences between university and university of applied sciences, say Nelissen, played a role in the joint decision regarding her departure. 

Research

On the Fontys board she continues to be responsible for, among other areas, education, research, sustainability and entrepreneurship. Likewise the Education & Research service and all institutes in the domains Engineering & Innovation, Economics and Communication fall within her remit. Nelissen represents the Executive Board in the Tilburg region. 

Nelissen will stand down from her board position on April 1st and until her departure on September 1st she will be tasked with the continued elaboration and handover of the Improvement Program Applied Research. What she will do after leaving, she does not yet know. “I'm sure something will come my way.”