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Magazine for EUR alumni
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The University and the cityLike father like sonsRSM and future energy
October 2012
A day in the life of alumnus Paul van GesselHistorian on the radio
erasmus alumni magazine
05
De Erasmus Universiteit zet zich in voor ondernemers.
Meld u aan voor een college op de Erasmus Universiteit en werk aan de groei van uw bedrijf.
Kijk voor meer informatie
In maandelijkse colleges delen academici en succesvolle ondernemers hun kennis en ervaringen over speci�eke onderwerpen.
De Klant |Duurzaam Ondernemen |
Kapitaal Management |Het Nieuwe Werken |
Branding |
Construction was rapid. Once work began – after much water
had passed under the Maas’s bridges and the bureaucratic
hurdles in The Hague had been overcome – the seventh medi-
cal faculty in the Netherlands shot up in record time. On 13
October 1966, eight months after the foundation stone had
been laid, the highest point was reached. Crowds watched
open-mouthed: a building that soared no fewer than 104 me-
tres into the sky. This was unparalleled, higher even than the
Euromast.
ImpactThe decision made in 1965 by Minister I.A. Diepenhorst – not
to be confused with his brother A.I. Diepenhorst, Professor of
Business Administration at the NEH – to set up a degree pro-
gramme in Medicine in Rotterdam had a huge impact. There
were many reasons for this, the most important being that
Rotterdam and the region have consequently had a large tea-
ching hospital for a number of decades, and we owe the exis-
tence of Erasmus University to this decision. The creation of
the Rotterdam Medical Faculty led to the merger with the
Netherlands School of Economics (NEH) to form the University
of Rotterdam, better known as Erasmus University Rotterdam.
The photo was found in the photo archive of the Quod Novum Uni-
versity newspaper, the predecessor of the Erasmus Magazine. The
photographer is unknown.
EUR 100 years IMPACTIt’s not long until Erasmus University celebrates its centenary in 2013. All existing academic events will be
given an extra festive note in academic year 2013-2014. There will also be many extra activities. This is all
under the motto ‘EUR 100 years IMPACT’. www.eur.nl/100
Author Cora Boele
graduated from the EUR
in 1988 with a degree in
Social History.
On the way to 2013
erasmusalumni. magazine 03
The bastion of the white coats
De Erasmus Universiteit zet zich in voor ondernemers.
Meld u aan voor een college op de Erasmus Universiteit en werk aan de groei van uw bedrijf.
Kijk voor meer informatie
In maandelijkse colleges delen academici en succesvolle ondernemers hun kennis en ervaringen over speci�eke onderwerpen.
De Klant |Duurzaam Ondernemen |
Kapitaal Management |Het Nieuwe Werken |
Branding |
Text Cora Boele
04 erasmusalumni. magazine
Foreword October 2012
Dear Alumnus,In times of scarcity it is important to choose. Erasmus University
Rotterdam has chosen to be a leading, internationally-oriented city
university. There’s a lot in that one sentence. Of course we want our
university to be one of the top universities in the world in terms of
research and teaching – and this is what it should be. However, we
do this without wanting the world. We focus on what we are good
at and where we, as a market-oriented university, can have the most
impact. This may seem logical, but I can assure you we think long and
hard about these choices.
At the same time Erasmus University Rotterdam serves and will
continue to serve the direct environment. In recent years we have
consciously chosen to strengthen the University’s links with the city
and region. Erasmus University Rotterdam is the preferred supplier to
the Municipality of Rotterdam of knowledge and skills in a number
of areas. You can read more about this in this edition of Erasmus
Alumni Magazine. Researchers from Erasmus University Rotterdam,
community partners and companies are getting together more often
to find solutions to problems and encourage new developments
relating to health care, social issues and issues concerning the Port of
Rotterdam. Being a leader is not a solo activity; you become a leader
precisely because you join forces. Consequently, the impact of Eras-
mus University Rotterdam is and will remain as we intend: as great
as possible. Renovation work continues on the Woudestein Campus.
The C-Hall was finished in September and here too we are making an
impact on our environment, because the building has become much
more energy-efficient.
It is therefore not without reason that impact is the key word of the
centenary celebrations in academic year 2013–2014. Impact: this is
what Erasmus University Rotterdam has chosen. You will hear a lot
about this during, but also after, our centenary celebrations.
Pauline van der Meer Mohrblog.eur.nl/voorzittercvb
06
24
The Erasmus Alumni Magazine/EA is published by the Marketing & Communication department of Erasmus University Rotterdam. EA is sent free of charge to alumni of the EUR who are registered in the Erasmus Alumni Database. Register via [email protected]. If you have moved house, let the alumni office know [email protected].
The circulation of EA is 33,000.
Dutch and English versions can be found on www.eur.nl/alumni.
EditionVolume 3, EA 5 October 2012
The next edition of EA will be published inMay 2013
Editorial AddressEUR, SM&C deptPO Box 17383000 DR Rotterdam
[email protected]/english/alumni
Managing EditorCarien van der Wal, Alumni & Corporate Relations Officer
EditorsWieneke Gunneweg, Editor-in-ChiefMieke Fiers, Desk Editor
ContributorsLobke van Aar, Cora Boele,
Marcella Breedeveld, Dominique Campman, Ronald van den Heerik, Eveline van de Lagemaat, René van Leeuwen, José Luijpen, Geert Maarse, Pauline van der Meer Mohr, Sanne van der Most, Hans van den Tillaart, Carien van der Wal, Ed Weenk, Sjoerd Wielenga, Levien Willemse, EUR faculties, including Erasmus MC, IHS and ISS
AdvertisementsCarien van der Wal, Jonel Timbergen
PrintingVan Deventer, ‘s-Gravenzande
DesignUnit 20: Yoe San Liem and Maud van Velthoven
Editorial Advisory Board (RAC)The RAC is made up of representatives of the EUR’s faculties and alumni associations, and has an advisory role with regard to the production of EA.
CoverRonald van den Heerik
© Erasmus University RotterdamNo part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publishers.Colophon
Colofon
Pauline van der Meer Mohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam
05
erasmusalumni. magazine 05
Contents
06 Back to college
08 Erasmus news
11 From Rotterdam to Barcelona
12 A day in the life of Paul van Gessel
18 Alumni & the EUR
19 Column: Marcella Breedeveld
20 Focus on research
22 Science news
24 In the news in 1982–1983
26 The University and the city
31 Why Rotterdam?
32 Alumni affairs
37 Column: Dominique Campman
39 Family portrait
26
12
31
06 erasmusalumni. magazine
Back to college
Gerard van Welzenis:‘Compared with forty years ago today’s students have to race through their degrees at breakneck speed.’
erasmusalumni. magazine 07
How did you end up back at the University? ‘On the
advice of friends I’ve been attending lectures and courses
organized by the HOVO, the university of the third age, since
last year.’
Why are you attending their courses? ‘Once you retire,
you look for new challenges. I may have stopped working,
but then again not completely. Let’s say ninety percent. You
don’t want to sit around on your behind, as there are plenty
of things to do. I’ve also started doing voluntary work and
have become chair of the owners’ association of a large
bungalow park. It keeps you busy, that’s the main thing.’
Is the HOVO comparable with ‘real’ studying? ‘You do
have to get your nose into the books every now and then for
HOVO courses and lectures, but it can’t be compared with
the hard study of forty years ago, even if it is only because
there are no exams. Now it’s out of pure interest.’
The University must have been very different then. ‘It was the heyday of hippies and flower power. It was not done
to work for a company after you had graduated. It was all a
lot rougher around the edges on campus and even aspiring
economists proved to be confirmed idealists out to change
the world. It wasn’t possible to complete your degree in four
years, even though we did study hard. Compared with forty
years ago, today’s students have to race through their
degrees at breakneck speed.’
What do you have planned for the coming year? ‘I’ve
already registered for the courses and lectures I am going to
follow in the coming semesters. These include the lecture
series “The highlights of psychology”, with speakers such as
Professor Marise Born, and “How free is free will?”, with
speakers such as Professor Dick Swaab, famous for his
popular book We Are Our Brains.’
Are all the courses you’d like to follow possible? ‘The
HOVO organizes lots of courses, but they are mainly in the
arts. I do find that a bit of a shame. I’d like to attend more
lectures on, for example, the history of the natural sciences
or economics, my own profession. Look at current affairs:
the papers are full of articles on the financial crisis, the
economy, cuts and so on. It should be possible to develop an
interesting lecture series on this.’
Why don’t you try yourself? ‘Ha ha. Yes, I have discussed
this in the past with the HOVO coordinator. I could probably
even do it, although for specific topics I would have to invite
experts. When I asked the coordinator why there were so
few courses in the natural sciences, the answer was simple:
there isn’t enough demand.’
But, apart from that, is there enough choice? ‘Yes. This
doesn’t detract from the pleasure that the other courses give
me. A few years ago I followed a course on polyphonic
Flemish music. Music from the Renaissance; its leading lights
are composers such as Guillaume Dufay and Johannes
Ockeghem. I used to play the violin, but by far the majority
of the participants on this course were real musicians. The
course was often fairly technical, so I regularly found myself
heading to the library in order to keep up. That is what
makes it such fun; in the small HOVO groups you can go into
considerable depth. And we certainly shouldn’t forget the
social side of things. The HOVO provides good quality higher
education that is fun to follow and in the company of people
who want to learn.’
Author René van Leeuwen studied Sociology at the EUR. He
graduated this year.
Photographer Levien Willemse studied Social History at the
EUR between 1981 and 1989.
‘In the small HOVO groups you go into considerable depth’
‘It keeps you busy, that’s the main thing’
text René van Leeuwen
photo Levien Willemse
Gerard van Welzenis (65) graduated from the Faculty of Economics
at Erasmus University Rotterdam forty years ago. He has returned
since he retired. ‘It’s out of pure interest.’
Fancy studying again?
Different EUR faculties
and institutes offer post-
graduate teaching. See,
for example: www.eras-
musmc.nl/onderwijs.
More on the HOVO at:
www.eur.nl/hovo_rotter-
dam
08 erasmusalumni. magazine
Erasmus news
Anniversary of medal collection In 2013 it will have been half a century
since alumnus Dr W.L. Groeneveld Meijer
placed the NEPK – a foundation for
economy-related medals in the Nether-
lands – under the wing of what was then
the Netherlands School of Economics. The
collection of some 250 medals has since
grown to include more than 1800 medals.
To celebrate the anniversary, the Eras-
mus Gallery is putting on an interactive
exhibition with all the highlights from the
collection.
International cookbookThe International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is sixty years old and is ce-lebrating this anniversary by publishing its third cookery book. The cookbook contains a collection of recipes from all over the world contributed by students, staff and alumni. The first cookbook was published ten years ago.
Her law degree was second choice – she
failed three times to gain a place via the
ballot to study medicine. She played hockey
at the highest level and she also presented
TV programmes on the Talpa channel.
But Fatima Moreira de Melo still gave 100
percent to her studies. ‘A very active and
interested student. Very spontaneous and
not at all arrogant,’ is how lecturer Jolande
uit Beijerse describes her. ‘Her schedule as
a top athlete meant she couldn’t attend all
the lectures, but when she was there, she
asked a lot of questions and entered into
the discussion.’
Esther Noot was a fellow student and is
still a friend. She remembers that Moreira
de Melo worked out exactly how much
time she needed to study. ‘Four hundred
pages after hockey training...she was good
at pulling it out of the bag.’ A question
of self-knowledge, says Moreira de Melo.
She calculated ten pages an hour plus
some extra time. ‘That pressure at the last
minute, a target like that, works best for
me.’
‘Fatima is very focused. You never heard
her say that she didn’t feel like training
or that she wanted to go out,’ says Noot.
Moreira de Melo lived in a student house
with seven other students. But she didn’t
go out drinking because of her sport. In
her dissertation she studied the right to
sport in juvenile detention centres. The
legally-allotted time for sport was already
very limited in such centres, but Moreira de
Melo’s research showed that, in practice,
adolescents did even less sport. It was a
good dissertation on a subject on which
there was much discussion later. ‘I have
regularly used it as an example,’ says
dissertation supervisor Uit Beijerse.
‘Since she graduated, Fatima hasn’t done
much with her degree. It’s a shame, but
maybe she will in the future,’ says Uit
Beijerse. ‘She has good communication
skills, knows what she wants and is creative
too. She would make a good lawyer.’
Moreira de Melo, who now travels the
world as a poker player, has the following
to say, ‘Not now, but never say never.’
‘She would make a good lawyer’They are now in the spotlight, but what were they like in the lecture theatre? EA takes a
look at the student days of famous EUR alumni.
‘Four hundred pages after hockey training...she was good at pulling it out of the bag.’ Friend Esther Noot about Fatima Moreira de Melo.
The student days of... Fatima Moreira de Melo
erasmusalumni. magazine 09
Erasmus news
Erasmus University Rotterdam is looking for
alternative sources of income in order to reduce
its dependence on state funding. This is what
Chair of the Executive Board Pauline van
der Meer Mohr said at the opening of the
academic year at the start of September. In her
speech she referred to the capricious nature
of higher-education policy. She also sees a
tendency on the part of the government to want
to exert more control on academic output. Van
der Meer Mohr believes that the crux of the matter
is to ensure that political measures have less influence
on the financial state of the University. The University is
therefore aiming for more European research funding and
more international students. Van der Meer Mohr also sees
possibilities in the form of funding by external parties as well
as the better marketing of knowledge.
Henk van der MolenOn 26 September the second-year students
of the Faculty of Social Sciences received their
certificates for passing their first year. Everyone
was pleased with the success of the ‘Nominaal =
Normaal’ (Official = Normal) programme, which was
introduced this year across the whole university
(with the exception of the Faculties of Medicine and
Philosophy). EU phones Henk van der Molen, Dean
of the Faculty.
What is Nominaal = Normaal?‘Nominaal = Normaal involves two measures. First-year
students must earn all sixty ECTS credit points in one year.
They must have an average of six, but are allowed to use
marks from other course units to compensate for a fail. In
addition, the number of resits is limited.’
Did it make the students study faster?‘Beyond expectations. Prior to this, students had to earn
sixty ECTS in two years. We would have been pleased if
the same percentage of students now earned these ECTS
in one year. But on average it is eight percent more.’
Is that the reason for the celebratory mood?‘When I discussed the introduction with the Rector
Magnificus, he referred to the cohort system, where
you stay in the same cohort throughout your studies.
On Wednesday it was clear that this group as a whole is
progressing to the next year. We will hopefully see the
whole group at the Bachelor’s degree ceremony in two
years’ time.’
Rotterdam Philosophers’ BenchRotterdam has a Philosophers’ Bench, designed
by artist Saskia Wigbold. The bench is in the
Scheepmakershaven, on the spot where great
thinkers such as John Locke, Pierre Bayle and
Bernard Mandeville met in the seventeenth century.
HITTING THE SPOT - Cystic Fibrosis patient Frank Roodenrijs knows what fighting
is. He has a serious form of the disorder and has been waiting for a lung transplant
for three years. As a physical and mental boost, he was given a boxing lesson at the
end of August in a training room at the Erasmus MC-Sophia Hospital by former world
champion Don Diego Poeder. ‘It was really cool to be taught by Don Diego,’ Roodenrijs
said after the lesson. ‘The training was hard, but it is important. I must make sure I stay
in good condition for if I’m offered a lung transplant.’ (photo: Erasmus MC)
EUR wants greater financial independence
EA calls...
10 erasmusalumni. magazine
Erasmus news
Dating from 1968, the C-Building is one of
the oldest buildings at Erasmus University.
It has been restored from head to toe. The
large, characteristic hall, the lecture halls
and the workspaces have all undergone an
extensive makeover. The 23 lecture halls,
with a total of more than 2300 seats, have
been fitted with the latest technology. The
energy performance of the building has
been dramatically improved thanks to the
renovations – from an F to a B label. The
technical equipment has been replaced with
energy-efficient versions, CO2-controlled
ventilation has been installed and the
insulation of the building improved. Heat-
recovery units have been placed on the
northern roof. The rest of the roof will be
green thanks to sedum mats and there are
solar panels that provide enough energy to
light all the lecture halls.
www.eur.nl/campusinontwikkeling
C-Building: better and sustainableThe restored C-Building on Woudestein Campus was officially opened on 19 September.
The building is now much more sustainable and better equipped for students.
‘It’s not just what you do that’s important, but also what you say, feel and think. It all comes back to you sooner or later.’ Johan Witteveen, alumnus and former Rector Magnificus of Erasmus University, former fi-nance minister, deputy prime minister and IMF chair, attaches great importance to harmony. The presentation of his autobiography took place at the EUR on 4 September 2012.
Students unveil the 60-metre-long glass sculpture by the artist GÉÈF ® during the
official opening of the restored C-Building (photo: Ronald van den Heerik)
Digital textbooks Eight hundred first-year law students
at Erasmus University have been
able to use digital versions of their
textbooks this year. Kluwer Publishers
has made all the reading material
available in digital format. The books
can be downloaded via the learning
environment for use on a PC, laptop or
tablet. This includes all of the reading
material for the degree programmes
in General Law, Criminology and Fiscal
Law.
Take part in the marathonStudents, staff and alumni of the ESE
are invited to run 10 kilometres during
the Rotterdam Marathon on 14 April
2013. Sponsorship money will be
raised via the Erasmus Education Fund
for ‘Playing for Success’, a project in
which underperforming schoolchildren
gain positive learning experiences
in football stadiums. Interested in
running or sponsoring? Register at
the Centennial Office:
Female academics catching upFemale academics are catching
up with their male colleagues. In
the established generation, male
academics publish on average more
than their female colleagues do and
are cited more often. This is no longer
the case with the younger group of
academics. These are the findings of
research by the Rathenau Institute,
the VU University Amsterdam and the
Centre for Science and Technology
Studies (CWTS).
Brief news
From Rotterdam to Barcelona
MondayIt’s boiling hot outside and the air conditioning is roaring
everywhere. Despite the crisis, no cuts seem to have been
made here: it has to be 21 degrees inside. It won’t be long
before the biannual cold announces itself. It’ll be an exciting
week. It’s the first time I’ll be teaching the optional course unit
in Project Management simulation at the EADA for Spanish-
speaking MBAs in a single week. It hasn’t been offered in this
form before. How will the Spanish and South Americans react
to concepts that you wouldn’t normally associate with them,
such as planning, thinking ahead and risk analysis?
WednesdayIn the Netherlands it is the final today of an important supply
chain simulation game. At the last minute we were able to
arrange with Kluwer Management Publishers that the five
best teams will be presented with a copy of my book De
Perfecte Pass during the official prize-giving ceremony. The
theme of the book follows on nicely from the simulation: big
picture, coherence, alignment. Shame I can’t attend the prize-
giving ceremony myself. Sometimes Spain is just too far away.
ThursdayWorked on a project that recently started: an American
multinational has given its European Board, which is based
near Barcelona, the assignment to centralize its national
logistical operations in Europe. For tax/financial/legal reasons
this has to be in the Netherlands. The client is a real Spaniard:
slightly impatient, doesn’t have time or want to plan and
wants a new deliverable each week. He mainly wants to
do and, if possible, preferably without having to think for
too long. How different from my own (Northern European)
method of working. This clash is still frustrating sometimes,
but I now have a lot of experience of it.
FridayEnd of the optional course unit in Project Management. The
first feedback is very positive. Lots of participants seem to
think this should be a compulsory course unit on the MBA.
Good news. We’ll drink to that later in the garden, when it’s
cooled down a bit. It’ll be a lovely, sultry evening. If we’re
lucky, it’s like this from April/May to sometime in November.
SaturdayMy wife Marieke (Art and Cultural Studies, 1990) has an
intensive sailing course this weekend, so that she can gain
her sailing permit. She’s really good at sailing, but her years
of experience don’t count when it comes to getting the
compulsory permit in Spain. While Marieke is away, I go out
for the day with our sons Pau (6) and Marc (4). First to the
Foster radio tower. It’s a clear day, so we have a beautiful
panoramic view of Barcelona and its surroundings. The dots
on the sea, which could be Mum’s boat, make the biggest
impression. And of course the view of the Camp Nou football
stadium, where Pau and Marc, as Barça-socios, are regular
visitors to the ‘museum experience’.
TuesdayAs I looked at the hard-working students in the lesson
this morning, I suddenly thought of the phenomenon of
‘victimismo’. This is a certain type of victimhood to which
they are unfortunately very prone in Spain. With any random
setback they are quick to identify who is at fault: the boss, the
neighbour, politicians, the referee… usually everyone except
the ‘complainant’ himself. This is not a problem in itself (the
Dutch always know precisely who is at fault too, don’t they?)
if it were not for the fact that it often seems to paralyse the
Spanish and prevent them seeking a solution. The students
on my course are not troubled by this. They take the initiative.
Particularly in these times of crisis, I find it very inspiring to see
people who want to get ahead in life and consequently enrol
at a Business School. It’s a privilege to be able to help here.
My throat’s starting to feel a bit sore. Darned air conditioning.
Ed Weenk (Business Administration, 1995) is an independent
consultant (www.QuSL.nl) and a lecturer at EADA Business
School. His management book De Perfecte Pass was recently
published by Kluwer.
Ed Weenk (Business Administration alumnus) came to Barcelona ten years ago. A week in the life of Weenk, whose work includes teaching at the EADA Business School.
Courses in planning for the Spanish
erasmusalumni. magazine 11
Alumnus Paul van Gessel Historian with get-up-and-go
A day in the life of Paul van Gessel
12 erasmusalumni. magazine
erasmusalumni. magazine 13
They greet each other like old school friends, Paul van Gessel
and Humberto Tan. There is a bit of rough-and-tumble,
a feint. The Editor-in-Chief (suited and booted) makes a
wisecrack. The presenter (casual jacket, baseball cap) roars
with laughter. They are at the desk of the Desk Editor,
which overlooks the studio where Tan has just presented his
daily morning show. They talk about Robin van Persie, the
commuter tax, lying politicians and a plague of spiders in
a new housing development. The item with Uri Rosenthal
should have been live, they say. The figures of Douwe
Egberts were dealt with well. But shouldn’t Tan have kept his
opinion about that football transfer to himself?
It is just after half past nine. Van Gessel is clearly in his
element. The discussion is sharp, jumps from one topic to the
next and is being held in the middle of the newsroom, the
beehive where about twenty editors are busy preparing what
will be on the station later today. There are never enough
hours in the day here, but every day, without fail, they review
the morning show, with two-hundred thousand listeners
the most important programme on BNR Nieuwsradio. ‘You
should always aim for perfection,’ says Paul van Gessel. ‘We
don’t provide shoddy goods.’
Not cynicalThe BNR offices are a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam
Amstel station, next to the Dauphine café and under the
Financieele Dagblad (FD), the newspaper that is part of
Does the Managing Editor of BNR Nieuwsradio benefit much
from his History degree? EA spent a day with journalist and
businessman Paul van Gessel. ‘We focus on the architects of
society.’
text Geert Maarse
photo Ronald van den Heerik
Paul van Gessel also sits
behind the microphone.
erasmusalumni. magazine 13
Paul van Gessel1965 Born in Amsterdam1984 Teacher training in Nijmegen1988 Evening degree programme in History at the EUR1989 Reporter at Omroep Gelderland broadcasting organization1993 Master’s degree in History1995 Move to Veronica Nieuwsradio1996 Reporter at NOS broadcasting organization2004 Deputy Managing Editor at L1 (Limburg broadcasting organization)2007 Managing Editor at BNR2011 Marconi Award for best station
14 erasmusalumni. magazine
the same holding. BNR is thirteen years old and
run by a group of some fifty young people, not
including the freelancers.
With a market share of 0.8 percent, BNR is a
dwarf alongside giants such as Radio 538 (11
percent), Sky Radio (9 percent) and – its most
immediate competitor – Radio 1 (7 percent).
But BNR has its own signature. It makes radio
programmes for a professional, creative niche:
not for Henk and Ingrid (Mr and Mrs Average),
but for Erik and Daphne, as Van Gessel calls his
target customers. Erik and Daphne are ambitious
people with good careers (twice the average
income), a company car and a cosmopolitan
mindset. They are liberal, definitely not cynical
and dissatisfied, and they are open to new ideas,
regardless of whether these come from wacky
artists or the boardroom.
Triggered‘We focus on the architects of society, the people
who believe that something can still be achieved,’
says Van Gessel. ‘Our tone is significantly
different from that of Radio 1. They mainly focus
on the victims, but I don’t find that interesting.
We want to make progress.’
Take the situation in Syria, for example, he says.
And no, we mustn’t misunderstand him – of
course it is really bad – but are we losing sleep
about it? ‘One branch of journalism thinks you
must spend your time emphasizing how awful
the situation is in the world. And it always ends
with those familiar words, “and the Netherlands
is still not intervening.”
News must surprise, he says. An aeroplane
crash, an odd comment by a politician, a figure
about the housing market – that’s news. But the
never-ending civil war in Congo? The umpteenth
suicide attack in Afghanistan? ‘The convention
that something that is awful must by definition
stay in the news for a long time is something I’ve
dared to let go of. We prefer to look for new
stories. I want to be triggered. The Paralympics?
We didn’t do anything on them. The Eurovision
Song Contest? A fun party, but awful music.
Making choices gives you a profile.’Long termPaul van Gessel was born in Amsterdam. He
grew up in Nieuwkuijk, a village near Den Bosch.
His father installed central heating systems (‘a
good trade in the 1960s’) and his mother was
a social worker (‘one of the few in her family
allowed to go to school’). Van Gessel began at
the MAVO level of secondary education, but
he made it to teacher training in Dutch and
History in Nijmegen. This was halfway through
the 1980s, when it was almost easier to win the
lottery than find a job. He wanted to get into
journalism, which was a real struggle. When
he found work as a freelancer at the Omroep
Gelderland broadcasting organization, he seized
the opportunity with both hands.
As he still wanted to carry on learning, he
enrolled in an evening degree programme in
History at Rotterdam. This was really a two-year
programme, but it took Van Gessel six years to
complete it. ‘I was quite fanatical in the first
year and a half. I travelled to and from Nijmegen
twice a week, often hitchhiking to save money.
But once I had a permanent job at Omroep
Gelderland, I only wanted one thing: work, work,
work. I enjoyed it so much. In the end, it took me
more than four years to write my dissertation.’
It was the time when Huub Wijfjes, now a
professor in Groningen, was still in Rotterdam,
the time when Nighttown still existed. Van Gessel
was supervised by Dick van Lente in what is now
the major in Media & Journalism. It really shaped
him, he says now. ‘I was always an arts student,
but at Erasmus University I suddenly had to do
statistics. Obviously I failed the first exam, but
in the end I got eights for it. I still use that little
bit of science. I’m really fast at mental arithmetic
and very good at budgets. I’m also good at
putting things into perspective, which is the basic
approach of a historian: cautious, focusing on the
long term. That helps in journalism and also in
management. Take radio, for example: it’s been
declared dead seven times already with the arrival
of each new medium from television to the
internet, but it’s flourishing like never before. So
when yet another person makes some wild claim
about it, I think, “we’ll see”.’
Night workAlthough he was fascinated by management and
organization from an early age, it took a while
until Van Gessel could take the helm. He worked
briefly for Veronica Nieuwsradio (in 1995), but
earned his radio spurs mainly during his years
with the NOS broadcasting station.
He flew all over the world, from El Salvador to
Indonesia. He reported on the war in former
Yugoslavia and also on the attacks on the WTC.
In 2004 he made the move to L1, the Limburg
radio and television station where he became
Deputy Managing Editor. And in 2007 he opted
for BNR. He says he works about seventy hours
a week. He gets up between six thirty and seven
every day, reads the papers, listens to Humberto
Tan and arrives at the newsroom at about nine
in the morning. The morning evaluation is a
permanent feature of his day, but the rest is a
sequence of different meetings and one-on-one
sessions. He consciously tries to set aside time
for walking around, keeping up to date with
the news (‘filling her up’) and answering emails
(‘pumping away the floodwater’). And he also
presents his own programme: ‘Legal Affairs’. ‘Ask
him when he actually sleeps,’ says one of the
desk editors, who regularly receives emails from
him in the middle of the night. Van Gessel tries
to leave at about six thirty in the evening, but
that does not mean putting his feet up. There
are children and football, but also the news, the
unremitting stream of emails and his column for
the next day. ‘It’s extremely interesting, both the
journalism and entrepreneurial sides. If you feel
like that, you generate energy.’
A day in the life of Paul van Gessel
‘Journalism is not about constantly emphasizing the awful state of the world’
erasmusalumni. magazine 15
Als ondernemer werkt u hard aan het opbouwen van uw bedrijf en nog steeds ziet u overal nieuwe mogelijkheden in de markt. Zeker in crisistijd kan het inspelen op zo’n kans een grote voorsprong op uw concurrenten bewerkstelligen. Echter, waar vindt u de tijd om deze aan te pakken? Zou het niet prettig zijn om een ondernemer naast u te hebben zoals uzelf? Maar waar vindt u zo’n iemand?
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A day in the life of Paul van Gessel
Three steps aheadColleagues describe him as committed and driven. A very
creative mind, says one person. An item is always better if
he sticks his nose in, says the other. The image of a fresh,
enthusiastic manager who is always informed and thinks
along with everyone. ‘You couldn’t be closer to the work
floor,’ says presenter Roelof Hemmen. There is also criticism,
whether you ask Humberto Tan or a young editor. And they
all say the same: that he sometimes goes too fast for the
editorial office, that in his enthusiasm he is sometimes three
steps ahead of his colleagues. Van Gessel says, ‘I understand
that. You need to appreciate that I spend the whole day
thinking about strategy and the future of this station. The
average editor just wants to make a good programme. So
if I suddenly begin about a change of course that I have
already discussed multiple times in committees, I can imagine
they feel that they are being presented with a fait accompli.
I need to be aware of this. I think that a general must be
ahead of his troops, but not too far, because if they are no
longer following you, you have a problem.’
That get-up-and-go is typical of him and the organization
where he works. News is old within a few hours and BNR is
also a commercial news organization, which, unlike Radio
1, must deliver a 15 percent return to its investor, HAL, the
Rotterdam Holland-America Line. There are therefore always
new formats, partnerships and sponsorship deals.
‘People sometimes find it relentless,’ says Van Gessel. ‘What
you do is never good enough. But the show must go on.
Don’t misunderstand me, it’s a huge achievement every day
running a whole station and website with such a small group
of people. But the competition isn’t resting on its laurels.’
CredibilityThe combination of commercialism and journalism
sometimes results in criticism, particularly if, like BNR, you
work so closely with companies. Take the programme
‘Business with...’ at lunchtime each day, broadcast from
a company canteen in the Netherlands and sponsored. Is
that acceptable? ‘This means that we visit our target group.
Otherwise, these people would have been guests in the
studio. If a company like this wants our appearance as a
bit of window dressing, that’s fine by me. If they want their
managing director in the programme, tough luck. I don’t
budge an inch on that and we still manage to get a lot of
money from the market. We can never risk our credibility.
Never. The sales department must also appreciate this.’ It’s
hard work maintaining the results. The advertising market is
in a miserable state. ‘It puts me on the attack. We have had
a hard economic year, but we are developing new activities
to ensure that the station is still solid as a rock in 2015.’
It’s six in the evening. The sun is shining into Paul van
Gessel’s corner office, on the same floor as the FD, two
staircases above the BNR newsroom. The Marconi Award
that the station won last year for best station is on his desk.
Against the wall leans a black-and-white poster of Humberto
Tan.
He’s never actually here, he says. He wants to know what
is going on. Below and in the world, it is very likely that
another important thing has happened. But he still takes the
time for an interview and gives it his full attention. He says,
‘Have you got everything? I always want to know whether
people are satisfied with what I provide. It must be a good
story.’
Author Geert Maarse studied Business Administration (2006)
and General Cultural Sciences (2008), and did a Master’s degree
in Media and Journalism (2009) at the EUR.
Photographer Ronald van den Heerik studied Philosophy
between 1979 and 1983 at the EUR.
erasmusalumni. magazine 17
The day is a series of
different meetings and one-
on-one-sessions.
18 erasmusalumni. magazine
Alumni & the EUR
Skills, inspiration and knowledge
In the afternoon session of Zorg voor Kennis II the
focus will be on skills: writing policy documents, time
management and ‘blue leadership’. At one of the
workshops Professor Jan Moen, one of the founders
of the iBMG, will teach the effective development
of leadership behaviour. He will use some concepts
from his book Kleur bekennen, kleedkamergesprek-
ken over leiderschap (Show your Colour: Locker-
Room Discussions on Leadership).
The evening programme will begin with a plenary
session, in which three remarkable alumni present
themselves in a TEDx-like setting. This will be fol-
lowed by knowledge seminars on cuts in health care,
innovation in health care, competition and collabora-
tion in health care and performance-related pay.
Zorg voor Kennis II, Thursday 22 November
2012, De Doelen Rotterdam. www.bmg.eur.nl/
zorgvoorkennis.zorgvoorkennis
How should health care be
organized and improved? This
question is the permanent focus
of the Institute of Health Policy
and Management (iBMG), and
also of the Zorg voor Kennis
(Care for Knowledge) alumni
event.
The organization of health care is a hot topic.
The newspapers are full of articles on more – or
less – competition, on collaboration and on cuts
in health care. These are the topics that iBMG
alumni are faced with in their work, topics such
as effective leadership, time management and
care innovations such as e-health. At the Zorg
voor Kennis II event, on Thursday 22 November
in De Doelen, iBMG alumni will be able to share
their knowledge with each other and garner new
knowledge.
Contact Ernst Bakker, alumni officer at iBMG says, ‘We
consider it very important to stay in touch with
our alumni, because they are our calling cards in
the field. We want to know whether they find
good jobs, whether they end up in jobs where
they can make improvements to health care
and which issues they encounter. At the same
time we want to offer our alumni extra training
and information. Many alumni enjoy continuing
their involvement with iBMG through interesting
events. At Zorg voor Kennis this all comes
together.’
The event took place for the first time two years
ago. This first edition consisted of an evening
with 185 participants, 130 of whom were iBMG
Networking and gathering knowledgetext Eveline van de Lagemaat
illustration Hans van de Tillaart
erasmusalumni. magazine 19
The crisis has dominated the Netherlands for the last five years. Are we in a period that will later be known as the Second Depression? Or were the last years the overture to a new period of economic growth? These are questions that I, in my current job as a member of the editorial board of the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, discuss almost daily with the editors. These are extra-ordinarily tense times for everyone in our country. They are also times when I regularly think of my Economics degree at the EUR. I started in September 1983, initially taking the train from my parents’ house in Voorburg to Rotterdam. The trains usually ran, but the remaining public transport often didn’t. The tram, bus and metro drivers were always on strike – in protest against huge government cuts. To get to the university I would walk through Rotterdam, past high piles of household rubbish – a consequence of a long strike by the city cleaning ser-vices, a grim time when government, employers and employees were pitted against each other. What is remarkable is that in the collective memory this period tends to look very different. After all, it was the year after the now-famous Wassenaar Agreement, which was signed on 24 November 1982. In this agreement em-ployers, employee organizations and the government reached an agreement on collective wage restraint. It is generally seen as the foundation of the ‘polder model’: working together to achieve economic growth by a system of consultation. In reality, it was many years after this agreement before the collective mood was actually tangible.For me as a journalist and economist, this collision between per-ception and reality has always been very chastening. Do I actually see what I think I can see? Do a tight employment market and high house prices indicate a healthy tension between supply and demand, or is the message filtering through that society is bursting at the seams? Is a social network company that does not earn anything but raises tens of millions from investors the precursor of a new economy or an expression of collective self-deception?
Almost thirty years after I first began my degree, I still benefit every day from what I learnt then. I am very grateful to both the university and the mountains of bin bags along the roadside for this.
Marcella Breedeveld (1965) is a member of the editorial board of NRC
Handelsblad and Editor-in-Chief of NRC Next. She studied Economics
from 1983 to 1990 at the EUR and is a member of the Alumni Advisory
Board.
Column Perception
alumni. The feedback was very positive, which is why Zorg
voor Kennis II has been organized and extended to include
afternoon and evening programmes.
UsefulOne of the participants in the first edition was Sanne van
Rumpt (25). She works as a policy officer at SHO Centra voor
Medische Diagnostiek, an organization in Velp that conducts
diagnostic research. She completed her Master’s degree
in Health Care Management at the iBMG in 2009. ‘Before
that I studied Health Sciences for three years in Enschede. I
wanted to do my Master’s elsewhere and chose Rotterdam
because they focus more on policy and management here.
It was the right decision. I am still in touch with fellow
students from both faculties, but the iBMG does a lot more
for its alumni,’ says Van Rumpt.
‘I found the Zorg voor Kennis seminar evening extremely
useful. Among other things, we discussed the Client
Care Act and risk spreading.’ Risk spreading is the equal
distribution of financial risk across all health insurers. The
duty to accept people means there is the likelihood that
some insurers have to insure an unequal proportion of the
elderly or high-risk patients. By spreading the risk, these
differences in risk are ironed out as much as possible. Van
Rumpt is definitely planning to go to Zorg voor Kennis II.
‘And I am definitely going to arrange to meet my former
study mates.’
ProudSince its establishment in 1982 the iBMG has grown into
a leading institute in the field of health-care policy and
management. Whereas in the beginning the emphasis
was mainly on teaching, iBMG is now also a big name in
the global field of research. The institute is also actively
involved in important social themes, such as the changes to
the health-care system in the Netherlands in 2006. Alumni
officer Bakker says, ‘Many of our alumni now have an
important job in the health-care branch. We are proud of
this of course.’
Author Eveline van de Lagemaat studied Social History at
the EUR, specializing in communication and education.
‘Alumni are our calling cards in the field’
erasmusalumni. magazine 19
Research in focus
ElECTRIC CARSPart of the change in the energy world is the large-scale use of electric cars. Konstantina Valogianni is conducting PhD research on this. How can you use them effectively? When and where do they need to be charged and what are the users’ preferences?
ClEVER DISHWASHERSIt is not only people that need to change their behaviour – machines must also become more intelligent. ‘I want my dishwasher to be ready before breakfast the next day,’ says Wolfgang Ketter. ‘But I don’t care whether this happens straight after dinner or sometime in the middle of the night. The dishwasher should start running in the period when there is a lot of energy. That requires intelligent software.’
ENERGy 1.0‘We are in the middle of a transition. We do not know what the future will look like. What we do know is that the end of Energy 1.0 is approaching,’ says Wolfgang Ketter, head of the Future Energy Business research group of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Ketter believes that ‘old’ energy, such as coal and oil but also nuclear power, has had its day. The future is renewable energy, which has far-reaching consequences for the whole energy market.
ENERGy 2.0In the new energy market people are both users and producers, says Wolf-gang Ketter. He points to Germany, where a large part of the electricity now already comes from solar panels on houses. The transition is compa-rable with the development of the internet. ‘First, people only read it. They consumed. Now lots of people have their own blogs or sites.’
20 erasmusalumni. magazine 20 erasmusalumni. magazine
POWER TACIn order to find out how a new energy market could work, what the problems are and – more importantly – what the possible solutions are, Ketter and his team have come up with a game: Power TAC. Software agents, sort of avatars that are built by research groups from all over the world, take part in the simulation. The agents deal in energy. The constant challenge is to find the right balance between supply and demand.
BAlANCEBalance is the challenge for the energy of the future. Supply and demand must match at all times. Whereas ‘old’ energy is controlled and constant, ‘new’ energy is irregular and cannot really be stored. People therefore need to learn to use the energy when it is available. For example, to do the washing when it is windy outside and there is a lot of wind energy available. Ori Marom and Wolfgang Ketter are researching how to encourage consumers to do this, with lower prices for example.
Text Mieke Fiers
Photo Levien Willemse
The photo was taken in the Drijvend
Paviljoen, the expertise centre for the
innovative and inspirational approach
to climate, energy and water in the
Rotterdam Rijnhaven.
www.drijvendpaviljoen.nl
erasmusalumni. magazine 21erasmusalumni. magazine 21
Eight young EUR researchers were awarded a Veni grant by
the NWO research organization at the end of June. Four more
experienced, talented researchers received a Vidi grant. Half of
these personal grants went to researchers from the Erasmus
MC. The research themes are very different. Vidi winner Andrea
Woltman, for example, is focusing on the Hepatitis B virus that
hides in the liver. Public Administration specialist Steven Van de
Walle (also a Vidi winner) is researching the trust public servants
have in the public.
The Erasmus MC is the first hospital in the Netherlands to digitize
its experimental laboratory analysis of cell and tissue samples.
Sending and recording microscope slides of tissue samples still
takes a lot of time. If the tissue slide is
scanned, the images can easily be
shared. Image analysis can
quickly identify cancer cells in
tissue, for example.
Lab research goes digital
22 erasmusalumni. magazine
Science news
Veni, Vidi, Research!
The etherlands is a closed societyKnowledge migrants often find it difficult
to adapt to their new home. These are the
findings of research by Marianne van Bo-
chove. Expats experience the Netherlands
as a fairly closed society, as do the ‘classic’
migrant groups from Suriname, Turkey and
Morocco. They find it difficult to really feel
at home here.
DNA-testFor the first time there
is a DNA test that can
predict hair and eye co-
lour at the same time. It has
been developed by scientists
from the Erasmus MC, together with
Polish and Greek colleagues. The test sys-
tem is very sensitive, so it may provide new
clues in old cases or in the identification of
missing people.
Ig Nobel Prize for Eiffel Tower researchIf you lean to the left, the Eiffel Tower
seems smaller. For their research on
this phenomenon, EUR scientists
Anita Eerland, Tulio Guadalupe and
Rolf Zwaan were awarded an Ig
Nobel Prize on 20 September.
This prize is for research that
first makes you laugh and
then makes you think.
maakt en dan aan
het denken zet.
erasmusalumni. magazine 23
Measures against academic fraudRector Magnificus Henk Schmidt hopes that a course on integrity and ethics for researchers, and the central storage of academic data will help prevent academic fraud in the future.
In recent years the Dutch academic world has been shocked
by academic misconduct. Cases have also come to light at the
Erasmus University. In his speech at the opening of the academic
year at the beginning of September, Rector Schmidt presented a
plan to prevent it in future. PhD students must follow a course
on academic integrity and ethics. The course is also open to other
researchers. The raw data from EUR research will be stored in
a central database. Should doubts arise in the future, it will be
possible to check the data here. There will also be regular random
checks of the data storage facility.
The current financial crisis was caused by the emergence of China. This is what Heleen Mees claims in her PhD research.
Since the start of the crisis and the recession that followed there
has been much speculation about the cause. Non-standard
mortgage products are often blamed. Mees claims, however, that
the blame lies with China. The Chinese obsession with saving
money led to plenty of cheap money, the consequence of which
was the American housing boom. The end of this trend marked
the start of the crisis. www.heleenmees.com
Blame for debt crisis lies with China
Sport after work makes you happyPlaying sport in the evenings
contributes to your general
wellbeing. People who carry on
working until late in the evening
actually feel less happy and
energetic. These are the findings of
research by the EUR in collaboration
with health insurer Coöperatie
VGZ. Eighty-five participants kept
a happiness diary for ten days. The
effects were particularly significant in
people with a strong internal urge to
work. They would really be better off
playing sport in the evening.
www.gelukswijzer.nl
Smarter PregnancySlimmer Zwanger (Smarter Pregnancy),
the pregnancy coaching programme
launched by the Erasmus MC Hospital
in January 2012, was positively
assessed by the participants. Slimmer
Zwanger provides personal advice
via a website, an email or a text
message on nutrition and lifestyle
during pregnancy. The advice is based
on scientific research. From now on
the Achmea insurance company will
reimburse the cost of the programme
for all participants, including
people who are
not insured with
them.
www.
slimmerzwanger.nl
24 erasmusalumni. magazine
In the news in ’82-‘83
Anne-Marie Raat did a medi-
cal internship in Kenya (photo:
private collection)
Michiel Schapers was
training for Wimbledon
Anne-Marie Raat52, Medicine
What were you up to in 82-83?‘I did my “kandidaats” degree in Medicine in Rotterdam. I was
really interested in tropical medicine and was an active member
of Stichting STOLA, an organization focusing on health care in
developing countries. A friend and I did a research internship in
West Kenya on the health of small children there. We visited
lots of field clinics and were well supervised by the Faculty.’
What do you do now?‘After I graduated, I worked in Ethiopia. After a few clinical
years I was a GP for fifteen years and have now worked for five
years as a designated doctor at the Youth Care Agency in
Utrecht.’
How do you look back at that time?‘In that time an internship in Africa was very pioneering. It is
much more common now. You were away from home for six
months and didn’t have internet or a mobile phone, so were
very reliant on yourself and those around you. An exciting time
during which I learnt a lot.’
Michiel Schapers 52, Business Economics
What were you up to in 82-83? ‘I was always good at tennis, but the spring of 1983 was my
real breakthrough. I became Dutch champion after I played a
very good match in the ABN-Amro tennis tournament. This
meant I could play at Wimbledon for the first time. All in all, a
very exciting year with loads of international matches.’
What do you do now?‘I’m a coach. I’m self-employed and teach tennis at the Frans
Otten Stadium in Amsterdam, mainly to boys.’
What do you remember most?‘The fact that there was no support or supervision from the
University whatsoever for young top athletes. I had to give up
my degree in the end because I couldn’t combine the two. It is
all very different now and is even encouraged. Then you had to
do it alone.’
EA goes back in
time and won-
ders how the
students who
made the news
in academic year
1982–1983 are
doing.
text and photos from
now Sanne van der Most
erasmusalumni. magazine 25
Michiel Struijk set up the Lijst
Woudestein student party
Marieke van Doorn
became world champion
with her hockey team
Michiel Struijk50, Civil and Corporate Law
What were you up to in 82-83? ‘I and a few others set up the Lijst Woudestein student
party. We developed a huge PR machine and were the big-
gest party within no time. Our main mission was to link
teaching to actual practice.’
What do you do now?‘I have always worked in business, going all over the world.
I started as a company lawyer and am now a member of
the Dutch management team at Logica.’
Will you ever enter politics again?‘Politics still interests me, but it’s not the kind of thing you
can do on the side. You have to give it your all. My work
and my family are very important to me, so they’re taking
precedence at the moment.’
Marieke van Doorn52, Medicine
What were you up to in 82-83? ‘I became world champion with the Dutch women’s hockey
team in Malaysia. I combined top-level hockey with my me-
dical degree and my student association, RVSV. You do need
to be strict with yourself, but luckily I didn’t find that a pro-
blem.’
What do you do now?‘I now work as a GP in a deprived area of Rotterdam. I am
also a sports physician at the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis Hos-
pital in Delft. In my free time I coach hockey at the Victoria
club. I now only play hockey for fun with a group of
friends.’
Will you ever enter politics again?‘If you really want to achieve something, you have to give it
your all. It is possible to combine a lot, as I did then, as long
as you stay focused on your goal. Then it will all turn out
well in the end.’
Author Sanne van der
Most studied Civil Law at the
EUR. She graduated in 1999.
If the City Council adopts a green policy, will it also
generate financial benefits? This is a question that Kees van
Paridon was asked by one of the Rotterdam aldermen.
‘People have the impression that sustainability costs money.
We were asked to research whether it also generates
money.’ Since July 2011, Van Paridon, a Professor of
Economics, has held the position of Chief Science Officer, a
part-time job on the City Council. The idea is that the
Science Officer has one foot in the daily business of the
‘company’ of Rotterdam and the other in the academic
world of the University. Kees van Paridon says, ‘My main
concern is if the Council needs knowledge that the
University already possesses, how do you ensure that the
two are brought together?’
More direct, more intensive, more efficientThe city of Rotterdam has a bunch of questions to which
Erasmus University may have the answers. How do you
prevent too many children leaving school without
qualifications? What about the health of the citizens of
Rotterdam? How do we involve the inhabitants in their
neighbourhoods and vice versa? Academics regularly want
to conduct research at the Port or in the city’s
neighbourhoods. The City Council and other organizations
in Rotterdam can be of great help here. The position of
Chief Science Officer was created in 2009 to bring the city
and University closer together, and Erasmus University and
the Rotterdam City Council concluded a partnership
agreement in 2010. They were already in contact and there
was already an exchange of knowledge between Council
services and knowledge institutes, the business community
and social organizations, but, as the agreement states, ‘the
contact should more direct, more intensive and more
efficient. We want to capitalize on opportunities and
efforts, something that is not done enough.’
Knowledge centresA number of academic centres have been created to turn
these promising words into deeds. These are long-term
structural partnerships focusing on a specific theme. The
employees of different organizations participate in them.
There are, for example, knowledge centres on the Port,
health care and vibrant communities. New centres may
follow with themes such as sustainability, the economy and
the employment market. As well as taking care of the
knowledge centres, the Chief Science Officer is also
responsible for other contacts and matters. ‘Student
placements at the City Council, for example,’ says Van
Paridon, ‘but also training public servants such as Council
controllers.’
The Chief Science Officer is also involved in ‘The City of
Rotterdam’ City Monitor, an annual publication that
describes the city’s performance in fields such as security,
public health, education, spatial planning and housing.
Strategic thinkingRotterdam currently only has an agreement with Erasmus
University, but, says Van Paridon, the City Council is also in
serious talks with the Rotterdam University of Applied
Sciences, Inholland University of Applied Sciences and Delft
University of Technology (TU Delft), which is good, says Van
Paridon. ‘TU Delft has a lot of technical knowledge that we
don’t have at the EUR. We complement each other well.
Together we are stronger.’ But if the collaboration with
knowledge institutions is to succeed in the long term, the
City Council must focus more on strategic questions, says
Van Paridon. ‘Short-term thinking dominates, which is
understandable because the necessary cuts mean that many
people are being made redundant. But we must also ensure
we pay sufficient attention to questions such as the future of
the economy of the city and how best to tackle the low level
of education of the people of Rotterdam.’
Knowledge for the city
Erasmus University and the city
26 erasmusalumni. magazine
It is not for nothing that the name Erasmus University Rotterdam
contains ‘Rotterdam’. The University’s researchers have much to offer
the city. And vice versa.
text Sjoerd Wielenga
illustration Lobke van Aar
erasmusalumni. magazine 27
EUR & the Port ‘The Port needs our expertise.’
Professor in Commercial law Frank Smeele, from the Erasmus School of law (ESl), is one of five Port professors at Erasmus University.
‘Smartport is a network between Rotterdam’s academic and
business communities. Erasmus University, Rotterdam City
Council, the Port of Rotterdam and the Deltalinqs Port
entrepreneur association work together here. The Port
professors also participate. Two of them – Rommert Dekker
and Hercules Haralambides – are from the Erasmus School of
Economics. René de Koster is Port professor for the
Rotterdam School of Management and Harry Geerlings for
the Faculty of Social Sciences. It used to be that you weren’t
even aware that your colleagues from other faculties were
focusing on the Port. Now there is interaction; we can help
each other.
‘The Port requires our expertise. We are asked, for example,
legal questions about maintaining safety regulations in the
Port. For a business these regulations are an expense.
Businesses that apply the rules very strictly can consequently
make less profit than those that are more flexible. And what
is the role of the watchdog? Sustainability is also an
important theme at the Port, if you consider the regulations
preventing oil pollution by ships. We also consciously seek to
work with TU Delft’s Port Research Center (PRC), which also
has Port professors. This also fits the University’s vision of
strategic partnership with the Universities of Leiden and
Delft.
‘In September, with the support of Smartport, a new
Master’s programme was set up in Maritime & Transport
Law. We have twenty students, nine of whom come from
the Netherlands. The themes include public maritime law,
transport law, shipping, shipping accidents and maritime
insurance. We want to train graduates who can work in the
city as lawyers or company lawyers, at the judiciary or as
service providers for the Port of Rotterdam, such as banks,
expertise agencies, accident-claim processors, insurers and
insurance brokers. Guest speakers from the city and Port are
involved in the Master’s programme and different workshops
are planned at companies in the city, such as the Port of
Rotterdam, Dutch P&I and companies at the Port such as the
Euromax Terminal and Boskalis.
‘There is interaction; we can help each other’
28 erasmusalumni. magazine
EUR and vibrant communities‘It’s a crying shame to live parallel lives’
Herman Jäger is the director of the City Management Service of Rotterdam City Council. He is a member of the Vibrant Communities knowledge centre, in which the Faculties of Social Sciences, Management, Economics, Philosophy and the Department of Criminology are involved, as well as the Drift Research Institute.
‘The public is becoming more inconsiderate, which means
the streets have a lot more litter. The cost of street cleaning
for the City Council is increasing. At the request of
Rotterdam City Council, Erasmus University and the
University of Tilburg looked at the most effective way to
influence the behaviour of the public. They found that calling
on people at home and talking to them about litter on the
streets works best. This is a good example of working
together, but I think that much more is possible.
‘We have several thousand people – from Roteb (the Council
cleaning services) and the City Management Service – who
spend the whole day on the street. I hear them talking in the
company canteen. They know exactly which neighbourhoods
are Turkish, Moroccan, Dutch and Antillean, for example.
They can tell by the kind of rubbish. They have a wealth of
information between their ears. This knowledge would be a
treasure trove for sociologists, for example.
‘I come from Rotterdam and it has always been a thorn in my
side that for donkey’s years the University and the
“company” of Rotterdam have been inward-facing bulwarks.
Now we have a partnership, we bring together academics
and practitioners two to five times a year in a conference on
vibrant communities. My real agenda is to bring together the
University and the city in a structural partnership. It isn’t yet
standard practice for us to approach the University on policy
issues. The contacts are still very fragile. It could all be over in
a flash. And however enthusiastic I am about the
partnership, I realize that I too am part of the old culture of
living in parallel worlds, which is a real shame. I don’t know
what knowledge the University has under its auspices and
the University doesn’t know which issues I’m trying to solve.
That’s why it’s so good there’s a Science Officer.’
Erasmus University and the city
‘City managers have a wealth of information between their ears.’
erasmusalumni. magazine 29
EUR & health‘We provide advice for a healthier city’
lex Burdorf is Professor of the Determinants of Public Health at the Department of Social Health Care of the Erasmus MC Hospital. Together this department and the GGD Rotterdam Public Health Service form the CEPHIR (Centre for Effective Public Health In the larger Rotterdam area) academic centre.
‘Loneliness among the elderly is linked to a lack of exercise.
Together with the Veldacademie, we are studying how we
can get the elderly to exercise more in the city. In the
Feijenoord neighbourhood we gave them a GPS system for a
week so we could trace their exact movements. This
showed, for example, that there are too few places to rest –
such as benches – too many steps and too many stepping
stones with water between them, which children like, but
the elderly avoid. The neighbourhood must therefore be
better designed. This is why we are actively involved in the
design of neighbourhoods that have yet to be built. They
can then take into consideration the need to encourage the
people living there to exercise and walk.
‘The Erasmus MC wants to make an active contribution to
Rotterdam. Our academic centre focuses on public health in
the city. We ensure that the findings of our academic
research are sent to politicians, policymakers and institutions,
and we take up the questions the city asks us. For example,
I’m researching the integration of the long-term unemployed
with health problems. The Rotterdam Public Health Service
(GGD) and Social Services have set up a programme to get
the unemployed back to work. The alderman and Social
Services have asked us to evaluate this.
‘At the request of the City Council we also analyzed the
health of the citizens of Rotterdam. We found that they are
less healthy than other Dutch citizens. We advise the City
Council on how the city’s infrastructure can promote the
health of its inhabitants. Rotterdam’s poor health can be
explained by the high numbers of unemployed people with a
lower level of education. I advised the city to direct its efforts
to a combination of economics, education and health.’
‘By changing the infrastructure of a neighbourhood you encourage the elderly to exercise’
Author Sjoerd Wielenga
completed his Master’s
degree in Media &
Journalism at the EUR in
2007.
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Recht(st)reeks Rotterdam Juridisch PAO Najaar 2012www.erasmusacademie.nl/recht
In het najaar starten:• Legal Development in Modern China• Het nieuwe BV-recht• Capita fiscaal recht voor ondernemingsrechtjuristen• De nieuwe aanbestedingswet
• De forensische psychiatrische rapportage
• Verdiepingscursussen op alle vakgebieden
November - december 2012, 12.30-17.45 uur, Novotel Rotterdam Brainpark
Kijk voor het volledige programma en direct inschrijven op
www.erasmusacademie.nl/recht
Eras
mu
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Op deze pagina vindt u een kleine selectie van een prachtig aanbod aan relatiegeschenken van de
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Op www.eur.nl/faciliteiten/relatiegeschenken/assortiment/ vindt u ons
volledige assortiment. Bestellingen kunnen geplaatst worden door een e-mail te sturen naar [email protected].
Relatiegeschenken
Zilverkleurige pennenset € 35,-
Verzilverde theelepel € 7,-
Bronzen beeld ErasmusHoogte: 15 cm € 99,65
Presse papier€ 20,-
Dopper€ 8,-
Doosje assorti chocolade15 stuks € 6,50
Fotografie: Michelle Muus
erasmusalumni. magazine 31
Fouzia Outmany was born in Morocco and
moved with her parents to The Hague when
she was thirteen. She still lives in The Hague
and loves it there. But if she could have a
house on Noordereiland, she would move in
a flash to Rotterdam.
Rotterdam is the city where Fouzia studied.
After ‘a short trial programme in Political
Science’ at Leiden University, she decided to
do Sociology and Philosophy at the EUR. She
did not complete her degree in Philosophy.
Rotterdam is also the city where she is con-
ducting research for the Dynamics of the
City lectorate of the Inholland University of
Applied Sciences.
‘I’m currently doing research on Noorderei-
land into forms of community art relating
to citizenship. It’s about professional artists
working together with the people of Noor-
dereiland to record in art the stories of the
common man.’ Outmany works with three
other researchers: a sociologist, a social geo-
grapher and a historian.
‘The research has uncovered some terrific
stories. What is clear is how incredibly proud
the inhabitants are of living on the island.
The area was originally a port and became
an island in about 1880, when the Noor-
derhaven was dug out. The first inhabitants
were mainly seamen. The island then at-
tracted more and more other inhabitants,
including many artists.
‘The island now has a population of some
three thousand. It really is a little village in
the big city with a supermarket, a baker,
a few cafés, a few main streets and a lit-
tle square. Everyone knows everyone else,
which makes it really friendly, a vibe I haven’t
come across in The Hague. The Hague is,
after all, a bit snobby, a bit slick.’
Why Rotterdam
‘Noordereiland is a village in the big city’During her research Fouzia Outmany fell for the vibes of
Noordereiland. ‘It’s really friendly there.’
text Eveline van de Lagemaat
photo Levien Willemse
Name: Fouzia Outmany (32)
Degree: Sociology
Graduated: 2009
Proud of: Noordereiland
32 erasmusalumni. magazine
Alumni affairs
Erasmus University Rotterdam Alumni & Corporate
Relations Office
Room A1-51
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam
Telephone 010-4081110
Fax: 010-4089075
www.eur.nl/alumni
Alumni Advisory Board
Rinske Brand, Marcella
Breedeveld, Michel Dutree, Jan
Hendrik Egberts, Bon de Jonge
van Ellemeet, Sietze Hepkema,
Frans van Houten, Ila Kasem,
Guus Lubsen, Lilianne
Ploumen, Derek Roos, Dominic
Schrijer, Dick Verbeek, Frans
Weisglas, Henk Weltevreden,
Pieter Zevenbergen (chair)
Ul library card for alumni
EUR alumni receive a discount
on the university library card
and pay €15 instead of €30.
Apply for your UL library card
by sending an email to
[email protected], stating
your surname, initials, address,
date of birth and former
student number.
Social Media
For its communication the EUR
uses LinkedIn, Facebook and
Twitter. Register now.
Erasmus Alumni Database
In 2013 your alma mater, the
EUR, will celebrate its
centenary. We want to involve
as many alumni as possible in
these centenary celebrations.
If you are unsure whether we
have your recent address,
please contact us (alumni@
smc.eur.nl, 010-4081110).
You can also request a new
login from us so that you can
manage your data in the
database. Then you won’t
miss a single announcement.
Help please!
The top priority of the central
alumni office staff is to trace
and update the data of more
than 73,000 alumni in the
Erasmus Alumni Database. A
campaign featuring Erasmus
will begin around the
University’s anniversary. We
will use social media, including
LinkedIn, Facebook and
Twitter, together with the
alumni website for this. You,
as an alumnus, have an
important role here. By sharing
the campaign with your
former study mates you will
help us update the addresses
in the Erasmus Alumni
Database.
EUR language and Training
Centre
Alumni receive a discount on
our language courses. In the
first year after your graduation
you pay the student fee (50
percent). After that you
receive a 10 percent discount.
We provide courses in English,
Spanish, Italian, Chinese,
Dutch and many more
languages. Always wanted to
learn Spanish? Or Chinese? Or
are you interested in
customized training, individual
lessons or in-company
courses? Visit our website for
the options. First-year alumni
can register for our Job
Interview training. www.eur.nl/
ttc
Erasmus Sport
Jon de Ruijter, director
Telephone 010-4081875
www.erasmussport.nl.
2014 European Universities
Games in Rotterdam
The first ever EU Games took
place in Cordoba in Spain last
July. More than 2700 athletes
from 35 countries competed
for the European student
titles. Unfortunately the Dutch
teams did not win any medals.
The second EU Games will
take place in Rotterdam from
4 to 13 July 2014. We are
expecting more than 4000
athletes and 1000 officials. If
you would like to help us
make the 2014 European
Universities Games a big
success, register as a volunteer
or sponsor.
www.eugames2014.eu,
Facebook: eugames2014,
Studium Generale/
Erasmus Culture
Willem Scholten
Room E1-47
Telephone 010-4081144
American Victory Night
& Breakfast
Watch the United States
Presidential Election between
Barack Obama and Mitt
Romney live, with
commentary, theatre, debate,
lectures and a live-stream with
Professor Dick Houtman, from
Yale University, US.
6 November 7.30 p.m. to 7
November 9.00 a.m. 2012,
Rotterdamse Schouwburg
‘Goed gestoord’ (Good and
crazy): TBS (sectioning)/
lunchtime lecture
Lunchtime lecture by Professor
Hjalmar van Marle on insanity,
sectioning and the DSM-5
controversial diagnosis bible.
14 November 2012, 12.30–
13.30 p.m., Lecture Hall 2,
Erasmus MC
‘Dies Natalis (Foundation Day): Women mean business’The University will celebrate its 99th birthday on 8 November 2012. Every year a different faculty is the focus of this ceremony. This year it is the Rotterdam School of Management. In the English-language programme an honorary doctorate will be awarded to Alice H. Eagly, Professor of Management & Orga-nizations, Northwestern University, US. Professor Eagly is a leading researcher in the field of gender, leadership and business companies. Her supervisor is Professor Daan van Knippenberg (RSM Professor of Organizational Behaviour).
99th birthday, 8 November 2012, Auditorium, Woudestein
CampusFurther information and registration: www.eur.nl/dies
Meer informatie en aanmelding: www.eur.nl/dies
Alice Eagly will receive an honorary doctorate
erasmusalumni. magazine 33
Studio Erasmus/Talk Show
Academics reflect on current
affairs, together with guests
from the worlds of politics and
culture, the media and the city
of Rotterdam.
Reservations recommended via
15 November 2012, 7.30
p.m., e Unie, Mauritsweg 34-
35, Rotterdam
Understanding Turkey
Guest lecture on life and
culture in Turkey: how does
Turkey differ from the
Netherlands when studying or
doing business?
By Bram Vermeulen,
correspondent in Istanbul for
the NOS broadcasting
organization and former
Journalist of the Year.
19 November 2012, 3.00
p.m., Senate Hall, Woudestein
Campus
‘Goed gestoord’ (Good and
crazy): Depression/
lunchtime lecture
Lunchtime lecture by Maarten
van Buuren, author of ‘Kikker
Gaat Fietsen!’ (Frog Goes
Cycling!) about reclaiming his
life after severe depression.
27 November 2012, 12.30-
1.30 p.m., Education Centre,
Erasmus MC
General Erasmus Alumni Association Bon Ellemeet/Alexandra
Staab
PO Box 4382
3006 AJ Rotterdam
Telephone 06-19955994
(Bon Ellemeet)/010-4149407
(Alexandra Staab) eav@
erasmusalumnivereniging.nl
‘De EUR Draait Door’
special event
On Saturday 8 June 2013 the
Erasmus Alumni Association
and the associations of former
members of student
associations are holding ‘De
EUR Draait Door.’ This special
event, part of the EUR
anniversary celebrations, will
have inspirational guests from
the EUR and outside. Make a
note of the date: 8 June 2013.
Sport at a discount
EUR wants to emphasize and
strengthen its ties with its
alumni. Alumni can therefore
take part in sporting activities
at Erasmus Sport even after
they graduate. What’s more,
EAV members can participate
in its sporting activities at
student prices.
For information on the sports
on offer and fees see: www.
erasmussport.nl
Erasmus School of Economics ESE Alumni Affairs
Charles Hermans
Room H7-19
Telephone 010-4081803
www.esealumni.nl
Together with the Erasmus
Alumni Association (EAV), the
ESE organizes several annual
events, such as the ESE Alumni
Day on the opening day of the
EFT Business Week in the
spring and the Autumn Day.
EAV membership for ESE
alumni
New ESE alumni receive a two-
year membership of the EAV as
a gift from the faculty. If you
are not yet a member of the
EAV, register via www.esealum-
ni.nl, under the heading ‘be-
come a member of EAV’.
The EAV has set up a LinkedIn
alumni group for ESE alumni.
Students from Suriname
Twenty-one students from the
Anton de Kom University of
Suriname are studying at the
ESE this academic year. These
students completed a bridging
programme in Suriname and
are now following the Master’s
degree programme in
Accounting, Audit & Control
at Rotterdam. The students
will remain in the Netherlands
until February and will
complete the rest of their
degree in Paramaribo. In
September 2013 they will
receive a degree from both the
EUR and the Anton de Kom
University.
Centenary
IIn academic year 2013–2014
the ESE and therefore the
Erasmus University Rotterdam
will be 100 years old.
Obviously the ESE will not let
this milestone pass unmarked.
We will keep you informed via
www.esealumni.nl
Professors appointed
On 1 May 2012 Dr
Bas Donkers was
appointed
Endowed Professor
of Marketing
Research at the ESE on behalf
of the EUR Trust Fund.
Donkers’ research is on the
modelling and analysis of
consumer behaviour.
On 1 July 2012
Professor Richard
Paap was appointed
Professor of
Econometrics at the
Econometric Institute of the
ESE. His research interests are
the application of Bayesian
statistics to time series and
cross-section data in the field
of macro-economics and
marketing.
On 1 July 2012 Dr
Dennis Fok was
appointed
Endowed
Professor of
Applied Econometrics at the
Econometric Institute of the
ESE on behalf of the EUR Trust
Fund.
Professor Piet Sanders deceasedThe founder of what is now the Erasmus School of Law, Professor Piet Sanders, died on 27 September 2012, six days after his hundredth birthday. As well as an academic, Sanders was also the architect of the University’s art collection. Days before Sanders’ hund-redth birthday the Erasmus School of Law held an event to commemorate his life and work. There was also an exhibition until 19 October of his art collec-tion in the Erasmus Gallery on the Woudestein Cam-pus and in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, where Sanders lived.
Piet Sanders, founder of the Erasmus School of Law
34 erasmusalumni. magazine
The Erasmus Education
Fund
The Fund supports initiatives
that enable underprivileged,
talented young people to go
through further education and
thus become the leaders of the
next generation. Your
contribution is much
appreciated. Make your
donation to account number
11.69.09.463 in the name of
‘Erasmus Trustfonds’ in
Rotterdam, with the reference
‘Erasmus Education Fund’.
Further information at www.
erasmuseducationfund
EFR Alumni Association
Marc Hendrickx
Room H16-30
www.efr.nl/alumni
During your EFR year you laid
the foundations for friendships
for life. The alumni association
would like to help you
maintain these friendships.
New office
We will have a new office
from 12 October 2012: HB-20,
in the corridor between the H
and C Buildings. Feel free to
pop in for coffee. On our
website, www.efr.nl, you can
read reports on our activities,
as well as interviews with
members of the business
community and of the
university.
Ex Duplo
Contact person: Dominique
Poot [email protected]
Graduates of the Master of
Science (MSc) & Master of
law (ll.M.) programmes
Ex Duplo is the alumni
association for graduates of
the EUR’s Master of Science
(MSc) & Master of Law (LL.M.)
programmes, established in
2005. Ex Duplo organizes a
number of annual activities
and offers its members access
to an exclusive online network.
Further information: www.
exduplo.nl
Accountancykring
Association for Alumni of the
postgraduate Accountancy
programme
Contact: Saskia van Dijk
Telephone 010-4082713
www.esaa.nl
LinkedIn: Accountancykring
ESAA – a subgroup of the
Erasmus School of Accounting
& Assurance (ESAA)
For more than forty years the
EUR Accountancykring has
welcomed alumni of the
postgraduate Accountancy
programme. Events are held
twice a year on related topics
like the credit crisis, AFM
supervision and the pension
markets. Membership and the
events are free of charge. If
you participate in an event,
you will be awarded credits for
the NBA (The Netherlands
Institute of Chartered
Accountants) mandatory
continuing education
programme.
Bachelor Honours Class
Alumni Society
Nicky Hoogveld
Pigeonhole H6-26
www.esehonours.nl
Fourth Honours Union
On Tuesday 5 June 40 current
and former members attended
the twice yearly dinner of the
former ESE Bachelor Honours
Class. Anton van Rossum
(former CEO of Fortis, alumnus
and member of the
Supervisory Board of the EUR)
was the guest speaker. The
theme of his lecture was ‘the
current financial situation’.
New website
The association’s website has
been updated. The address
remains unchanged: www.
esehonours.nl
FSR Alumni Association
(Financial Study Association
Rotterdam)
Room H14-06
Telephone 010-4081830
www.fsralumni.nl
Faculty of Social Sciences FSW Alumni Affairs
Marjolein Kooistra
Telephone 010-4082135
FSW 50 jaar – viering in 2013
FSW 50 years old –
celebration in 2013
FSW will celebrate its fiftieth
birthday in 2013 with an
interesting programme, the
majority of which is open to
alumni. The programme
includes an alumni event,
jointly organized by Cedo
Nulli. The programme will be
published in December 2012
on the special FSW 50 website.
You will be informed about
the activities at the beginning
of January.
Public Administration
Contact:
Lalita Rambhadjan
Abeur Alumni Association
www.eur.nl/fsw/
bestuurskunde/abeur/
Twitter: @ABEUR_alumni,
@EUR_BSK
Suggestions
The Erasmus University
Rotterdam Public
Administration Alumni
Association (ABEUR) organizes
company visits and annual
events on a particular theme.
Email any suggestions for
interesting themes for a
lecture, autumn event or
working visit to: abeur@fsw.
eur.nl.
DebateThe EFR/EenVaaandag party leaders’ debate was held on 6 September 2012 in the Auditorium. Mark Rutte (VVD), Emile Roemer (SP), Geert Wilders (PVV), Alexander Pechtold (D66), Diederik Samsom (PvdA) and Sybrand van Haersma Buma (CDA) debated for over an hour on matters such as European regulati-ons, the economy and the increasing cost of health care. The students then had the opportunity to grill the politicians. This resulted in a lively debate between the politicians and the audience.
Alumni affairs
Party leaders debate at the EUR
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Korting voor alumniwww.erasmusacademie.nl
Ook al bent u afgestudeerd, uitgeleerd raakt u nooit. Op een groot aantal opleidingen
ontvangen alumni van de EUR daarom 10% korting op onze cursusprijs.
Dit najaar starten:• Psychologisch Kapitaalmanagement• Ketenregie in het publiek maatschappelijk domein• Procesmanagement• Document Management & Sociale Media• Water Governance nieuw
Kijk voor ons volledige aanbod op www.erasmusacademie.nl of neem contact op met Miranda Smit, opleidingsadviseur van Erasmus Academie
tel. 010-408 1796 of mail naar [email protected]
linkedIn groups:
ABEUR LinkedIn Group –
general Public Administration
Alumni Group
Master’s degree programme in
International Public
Management and Public Policy
– IMP Alumni LinkedIn Group.
Master’s degree programme in
Labour, Organization and
Management LinkedIn Group
Research Master’s degree
programme in Public
Administration and
Organizational Science Alumni
Group
Psychology
Psychology Alumni Association
The Psychology Alumni
Association sends out a
newsletter three times a year
and organizes alumni events.
Psychology graduates
automatically become
members of the alumni
association.
Correction
The May edition (no. 4) of the
EA Magazine erroneously
stated that Dr E.H.W Korsten
would be appointed Professor
in Psychology, specializing in
child and adolescent
psychology.
Sociology
Sociology Alumni Association
www.eur.nl/fsw/sociologie/
alumni/
Alumni Association
The Sociology Alumni
Association aims to organize
two activities per year, one
linked to the Master’s degree
programme in Labour,
Organization and
Management and the other to
the Master’s degree
programme in Urban Issues
and Policy. If you want stay
informed, become a member
(free of charge) by sending an
email to lumnisociologie@fsw.
eur.nl.
More than two hundred
alumni are members of the
Sociology Alumni Association
(EUR) LinkedIn Group.
36 erasmusalumni. magazine
Erasmus School of law (ESl)ESl Alumni Affairs
Hanz Zwart
Room L5-37
www.frg.eur.nl/alumni
De Doelder Day 2012:
Dutch enterprise law of the
future
The Future of Enterprise Law
Speakers: Professor B.F. Assink
and Professor J.B.S. Hijink
16 November 2012, 1.15-4.30
p.m.
The Shape of Diversity to
Come
Global Community, Global
Archipelago or a New Civility?
Further information:
www.esl.eur.nl/diversity
24-25 January 2013
Erasmus MCErasmus MC Alumni Affairs/
Erasmus MC Alumni
Association
Elles de Waard
Communication
Department
Room Gk-954
PO Box 2040
3000 CA Rotterdam
Telephone 010-7044538
www.erasmusmc.nl/alumni
Alumni Association
Members of the Erasmus MC
Alumni Association receive
‘Monitor’, the quarterly
magazine of the Erasmus MC,
free of charge. If you want to
become a member, please
register via www.erasmusmc.
nl/verenigingen/alumni/
algemene-informatie.
Junior doctors receive a free
candidate membership at the
start of their clinical clerkship
and do not pay any
membership fees for three
years.
New Education Centre for
Erasmus MC
The new Education Centre of
the Erasmus MC opened on
28 August 2012. Students,
staff and visitors can use the
teaching rooms, independent
study and lounge areas, and
project rooms.
Faculty of PhilosophyAlumni affairs
Dr W.M.J. Ophelders
Room H5-33
Telephone 010-4088993
ERA Faculty Association
Room H4-15
Telephone 010-4088985
available Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.
-5 p.m.
http://erarotterdam.nl/
Monthly ERA reception
Every third Thursday of the
month at Café Boudewijn,
Nieuwe Binnenweg 53 a-b.
Rotterdam, www.
bbcboudewijn.nl.
Erasmus School of History, Culture and CommunicationESHCC Alumni Affairs
Sabai Doodkorte
Room L3-30
010-4082874
www.eshcc.eur.nl/alumni
Valedictory lecture of
Professor Ton Bevers
Professor Ton Bevers will give
his valedictory lecture on Friday
16 November 2012. He has
worked at the EUR since 1989.
He taught different course
units in the field of cultural so-
ciology at the Department of
Art and Cultural Sciences.
16 November 2012,
Auditorium
Woudestein Campus, further
information at
www.eshcc.eur.nl
Employment Market Orien-
tation Days 2013
On 27 and 28 February the ES-
HCC and the Histartes Student
Association will hold Employ-
ment Market Orientation Days,
with different activities relating
to possibilities after graduation.
Students and alumni from all
degree programmes of the Fac-
ulty can follow different work-
shops.
The programme will be pub-
lished in January 2013 on
www.eshcc.eur.nl/amo
27 and 28 February 2013
NWO grant
Dr Stijn Reijnders, a specialist in
media studies, has received a
grant from the Netherlands Or-
ganisation for Scientific Re-
search (NWO) for the project
‘Locating Imagination’. The
grant of €750,000 will allow
Reijnders to conduct a five-year
research project into media
tourism.
Further information: www.esh-
cc.eur.nl/english/personal/rei-
jnders
Whole cohort graduates
within one year
On Thursday 30 August 2012,
27 students from the English-
taught MA in Media Studies
graduated. This is unique,
because all 25 students who
Alumni affairs
TwijfelThe Faculty of Philosophy’s Post Scriptum newspaper was given a new lease of life in 2010 under a new name: Twijfel (doubt). Twijfel is published twice a year and each edition has a specific theme. Within the Faculty of Philosophy Twijfel is a platform for stu-dents and lecturers to publish and share articles, es-says and reviews. Alumni can subscribe to Twijfel by sending an email to [email protected]. An annual subscription costs €10. If you would like to sponsor Twijfel, please contact [email protected] and beco-me a Friend of Twijfel. www.twijfel.nu
began this Master’s programme
in 2011 have completed the
programme in one academic
year. More than 20 of them
attended the graduation
ceremony in the Auditorium of
Erasmus University.
Aardig Onderweg
ESHCC alumna Angelique van
Tilburg (28) was awarded the
Aardig Onderweg Award (Well
on the Way Award) during a
show at the Nieuwe Luxor Thea-
tre for Jong010, the Rotterdam
children’s newspaper she set up.
The Aardig Onderweg Award is
a community prize from the RET
transport company for people
from Rotterdam who have done
something exceptional for the
city. With the prize money of
€10,000, Angelique will be able
to develop Jong010 further.
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus UniversityISH Alumni Affairs
Jennifer Ritfeld
Room T6-26
Telephone 010-4082698
www.rsm.nl/alumni
RSM Rotterdam Marathon
Come and join the RSM team
and test yourself in the Rotter-
dam Marathon on 14 April
2013. The training for advanced
runners begins in November and
for beginners in January.
www.rsm.nl/marathon
RSM Alumni Day
The perfect opportunity to pick
up where you left off with your
old classmates, as well as share
experiences and make new con-
tacts – and at the same time re-
fresh your knowledge in lectures
by top RSM researchers.
19 April 2013, 1.30-9 p.m.,
Woudestein Campus, J-Building.
www.rsm.nl/alumni/events/alum-
niday/
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) Alumni Affairs
Sandra Nijhof
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX Den Haag
Telephone 070-4260414
www.iss.nl/alumni
Anniversary 2012
ISS is celebrating its sixtieth
birthday in the period September
2012-July 2013.
ISS Alumni Fund
The ISS Alumni Fund was set up
at the start of 2012 and has the
goal of supporting talented stu-
dents during their studies at the
ISS.
Institute of Health Poli-cy and Management (iBMG)iBMG Alumni Affairs
Ernst Bakker
www.bmg.eur.nl/alumni
Alumni Actueel Newsletter
The iBMG and the aBMG publish
a newsletter four times a year
containing information on the
iBMG, aBMG and other
establishments, developments
and activities that are relevant to
alumni.
Alumni can receive the newslet-
ter by post or in digital format.
You can register or unregister via
Column In Motion
erasmusalumni. magazine 37
When I look out of my window at the building work outside, it’s an inescapable fact: the EUR is drastically changing on its way to the top. In today’s world, though, we have no choice. This is the EUR’s interpretation of survival of the fittest.In early 2010 a new Executive Board was installed at the EUR. Almost immediately this new Board developed clear ambitions in the field of operational management. It was to be taken to a higher level in the coming years. Most importantly, it was to be modernized.This ambition has led to a significant development at the EUR – the introduction of the BV2013 improvement programme, which touches all aspects of operational management and promises ‘Top Support for a Top University’. As the unmistakable symbol of this change, the campus is also being overhauled. It is rapidly acquiring new connecting paths, an underground car park and an iconic new student pavilion. Yes, the EUR is in motion.What is most apparent to me about this development is the eagerness with which we’re welcoming it. It’s as if we’ve been waiting for each other for a long time. No, that doesn’t mean that everything’s suddenly running smoothly and harmoniously, but it does mean we’re working together on it.Anyone in motion at the EUR, anyone looking further than his own desk, gains an understanding of how other sections and departments of the EUR function. This insight clearly illustrates the need to work together. So motion does help, sitting at another desk in the EUR organization for a change. I myself have moved a lot across the campus, first as a student, later as an IT manager and faculty director, and now as Manager of the IT Improvement Programme.BV2013 gives me the opportunity to continue to move and therefore to develop. In my new role as IT Programme Manager I again face new challenges and am gaining a better understanding of the ins and outs of the EUR as a whole.You have to move forward to progress, so is motion progress? Yes! For both people and institutions. And if you ask me, we at the EUR should keep moving!
Dominique Campman (1963) is IT Programme Manager at the EUR. He
first studied Business Administration (1992) and then did a Master’s
degree in Business Information Management, both at Erasmus
University.
Alumni affairs
Alumni Event: Zorg voor
Kennis II (Care for
Knowledge II)
On 22 November 2012 iBMG
is holding the second edition
of the Zorg voor Kennis event.
iBMG alumni are warmly
welcome. You can also bring a
guest.
Further information: www.
bmg.eur.nl/zorgvoorkennis
aBMG
The Health Policy &
Management alumni
association (aBMG) is a very
active association with more
than 700 members (Health
Policy and Management
graduates from Erasmus
University).
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies IHS Alumni Affairs
Sarah Steendam/Ore Fika
Room T14-33
Telephone 010-4089850
(Ore Fika)/010-4089874
(Sarah Steendam)
www.ihs.nl/alumni
The alumni network of IHS
now consists of over 7500
alumni in more than 140
countries. On our website is
an overview of the network
and the local IHS alumni
associations that have been
set up by IHS alumni. Details
about events or meetings held
by local associations can be
found in the diary on the
website.
Refresher courses 2012
This year IHS is offering two
more refresher courses thanks
to Nuffic funding:
- Affordable Resilient Housing
for Vulnerable Communities
Manila, the Philippines, 19-30
November 2012
- Are Public Private
Partnerships (PPPs) REALLY
pro-poor and gender-
sensitive? Uganda, 22
October-2 November 2012
IHS Awards
During the World Urban
Forum VI on 5 September
2012 in Naples, Italy, IHS
Alumni International gave
awards to two people who
have made a considerable
contribution to the design of
their cities. They were Dr
Sergio Fajardo, former mayor
of the Colombian city of
Medellin and current governor
of Antioquia, and the
governor of Lagos, Nigeria.
Erasmus Institute for Financial PlanningIFP Alumni Affairs
Theo Hoogwout
Room H16-07
Telephone 010-4081491
www.erasmusifp.nl
Financial Planning
Symposium
The Erasmus IFP will be
holding a symposium on 1
November 2012. The topics
covered will be the 2013 Tax
Regime and Geopolitical and
Financial Planning. The
following will be discussed: in
which BRIC countries can you
invest (explained from the
geopolitical aspect); in which
currencies can you get a
mortgage, for example; the
relationship between the euro
and the dollar.
1 November 2012, 3.30 p.m.,
M-Building (Woudestein) room
3-03.
Knowledge centre for family businessesThe Erasmus Centre for Family Business will offici-ally open on 30 November 2012 with an interactive seminar. During the event family businesses from all corners of the business community will be able to have their say, and visions and strategies will be shared. The aim of the centre, which is sponsored by a consortium of family businesses (Van Oord, Ro-yal de Kuyper, De Stiho Groep and Peterson Control Union), is to develop and spread knowledge about the specific management challenges faced by family businesses.
30 November 2012, 2.30–4.30 p.m., Forum Room, M-Building,
Woudestein Campus.
erasmusalumni. magazine 39
Familiy portrait
Hans: ‘I’m a real collector. After gaining my
MULO, HAVO and HEAO qualifications, and a
false start at teacher training, I began studying
Law part-time. I had tutorials on Fridays and did
the rest of my studying in the evenings and at
weekends.’ He had already begun his career at
the Ministry of Social Affairs. From there he
moved to the Ministry of Housing, Spatial
Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of
Justice and the Ministry of Education, Culture
and Science, where he is now Secretary General.
‘I chose the EUR mainly because it was between
Schoonhoven, where I lived, and The Hague.’
The EUR’s location also played a part for his sons.
Dennes says, ‘I only went to live in Rotterdam in
my third year. Before that it didn’t even cross my
mind. The journey time is minimal and I liked
living at home.’
None of the sons are members of student
associations and neither was their father. Despite
his double degree, Flint still has enough time for
fun, ‘It’s a question of good planning. I am a
member of the In Duplo study association.’
Third-year student Winter’s priority is working as
a student assistant. He did this last year in the IT
department and is now a mentor. ‘In addition to
the social contacts you make doing this, I’m
really benefiting from the deepening of
knowledge you get when passing it on to
others.’
His father Hans says he recently met the
Executive Board of the EUR. When he said that
three of his sons were studying at the EUR,
Board member Bart Straatman quipped that ‘the
fourth one gets in free’. ‘He didn’t know we’ve
got two more children in secondary education. I
wonder whether he’ll keep his word...’
‘The fourth child at the EUR gets in free’
From left to right
Dennes van der Vlist
24, works for an investment
company
Degree: International
Economics 2006-2011
Winter van der Vlist
20, third year Fiscal
Economics
Hans van der Vlist
60, Secretary-General at
the Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science
Degree: Law 1977-1981
Flint van der Vlist
19, second year Economics
and Law (Master of Science/
Master of Law)
Hans and lida van der Vlist have
five sons and one daughter
who all grew up in the historical
centre of Schoonhoven. Dennes,
the eldest, is an EUR graduate
and two of his four brothers are
students there.
text and photo Ronald van den Heerik
Fuel your futureChoose your Open Programme
Business was usual
ROTTERDAM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENTERASMUS UNIVERSITY
The business environment we work in can be unpredictable – and that means challenges for you and your
organisation. RSM Executive Education and Organisational Development (EEOD) can help you understand
and master this complex environment. For over 20 years, we have been keeping the leaders of international
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Programmes. Open your mind. Find out more about our full offering of Open Programmes at rsm.nl/open.
Alumni of EUR and RSM receive a 10% discount on all of RSM’s Open Programmes.
Trust is the new control
Understanding the impact of new management control techniques is more important than ever if you are a non-financial manager who wants to take on a bigger role in your oganisation. Consider the Principles of Management Control Open Programme.
Prof. Dr Frank Hartmann
Technology has created intense new competition, but also endless new growth opportunities for those who can craft winning marketing strategies. Consider the Strategic Marketing Open Programme.
Prof. Dr Gerrit van Bruggen
The secret to inspiring others is to stay inspired – and integrated – in your own leadership development. Consider the Advanced Management and Leadership Open Programme.
Prof. Dr Daan van Knippenberg
Sustain your leadership, learn!
Customers aren’t just ‘king’. They’re everything
Renew yourself. Strategy will follow
The ability to understand, generate and implement new management strategies is essential for every business. Become a Certified Strategic Manager with the Erasmus Executive Programme in Strategic Management.
Prof. Dr Pursey Heugens
0278.00.022 RSM_adv_Erasmus Alumni Magazine_230x297.indd 1 28-08-12 15:07