This database contains the names of all the professors and doctors of the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) and its predecessor, the Athenaeum Illustre, from 1632 up to now.

This database was published in 2007 in order to commemorate the University of Amsterdam’s 375^th anniversary. Before that time there were only a few printed lists of professors and doctors, all of which were out-of-date. The first one was published in 1882 at the institution’s 250^th anniversary. In 1913 the most recent list of doctors and students appeared. And in 1932, at the tercentenary anniversary, the most recent survey of professors was published, containing biographies of all 396 professors since 1632.

By now the number of professors that has been employed at the University of Amsterdam has increased to nearly 2500. Every year the university appoints a few dozen of new professors. They are added to the database each month. The number of doctors currently exceeds 14.000. The list of doctors will be published by the end of 2009, including the honorary doctors. New data will be added once a year.

The continually increasing Historical Collection of the University of Amsterdam has made it possible to add a portrait to the personal and educational details of nearly all professors. Besides this, there are a number of illustrations on the degree awarding ceremony of some of the doctors. These illustrations consist of posters, to some extent comparable to cartoons, which were billed on the day the candidate received his doctorate and were meant to commemorate it. This custom is only known to exist in the Netherlands and originated in the 19^th Century at the University of Leiden. The colourful posters illustrate the life of the candidate in a humorous way and had the signatures of their supervisors.