Kurt D. Dykstra
Former President
Term: 2015 – 2022
Before beginning his role as the College’s president in July 2015, Kurt D. Dykstra served as mayor of the City of Holland, Michigan, and as the senior vice president and community president of Mercantile Bank of Michigan. Melding his experience as an attorney since 1997 with his passion for higher education, Dykstra shared his expansive knowledge and expertise as a part-time member of the faculty at Hope College for more than a decade.
Dykstra earned his Bachelor of Arts (Magna Cum Laude) at Northwestern College, and his Juris Doctor at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduating first in class (Summa Cum Laude). While at Marquette, he was elected the editor in chief of the Marquette Law Review. He is a former judicial law clerk for the Honorable Ann Walsh Bradley of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and practiced law for 15 years at two National Law Journal 250 firms.