Dymph van den Boom (1951) was Rector Magnificus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) from 1 October 2007 to 31 May 2016. Between 2001 and 2007, she was dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the UvA.
Van den Boom began her scholarly career as a developmental psychologist at Leiden University, where she received her doctorate in 1988. In 1996, she was appointed professor of Educational Theory at the UvA’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Between 1997 and 2001, she served successively as head of the Department of Child Development and Education and vice-dean of the same Faculty.