Dr. Shanti Venetiaan, President of the Board of Anton de Kom University of Suriname, delivers the 25th De Vries–VanderKooy Memorial Lecture, "Suriname 50 Years Srefidensi: Journey of a Small Multiethnic Nation," in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Suriname’s independence.

Born and raised in Suriname, Dr. Venetiaan pursued a degree in mathematics in the Netherlands and later earned her Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam. Unlike many of her peers, she returned to Suriname, where she has been on the faculty of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname since 1997. She has held numerous key positions at the university, including serving as the first Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and as the first female President of the Board. Dr. Venetiaan is the daughter of three-term President of the Republic of Suriname, Ronald Venetiaan.

Please join Dr. Venetiaan, Dutch Studies, and Germanic Languages and Literatures for this momentous celebration. The event starts with a carillon concert by University Carillonist, Dr. Tiffany Ng that includes compositions by student of Carillon, Adam Lenhart.