Simone Buitendijk is the thirteenth Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. Before joining Leeds, she was Vice-Provost (Education) and Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Imperial College London. Prior to that she was Vice-Rector at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She was responsible there for education, student affairs and diversity; and played a major role in the overall strategic leadership and direction of the university as a member of a three-person leadership team.