Alexander Rinnooy Kan

Alexander Rinnooy Kan

Alexander Hendrik George Rinnooy Kan (born 5 October 1949) is a Dutch mathematician and business leader. As of September 2012 he is University Professor of Economics and Business Studies at the University of Amsterdam. The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant named him the most influential person in the Netherlands in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[1]

Biography

Rinnooy Kan grew up in The Hague. He graduated in mathematics at Leiden University in 1972. In the same year, he obtained his B.Sc. degree in econometrics from the University of Amsterdam. In 1972–73, he worked as a mathematician at Spectrum Encyclopedia. From 1973 until 1977, he was a scientific employee in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Delft University of Technology (then called the Delft Technical College). In 1976, he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Amsterdam; he was advised by Gijsbert de Leve.[2]

In 1977, he went to the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he became a full professor in Operations Research in 1980 at the age of 30. In 1983, he was appointed head of the Econometric Institute, and in 1986 rector magnificus of the university. In the meantime, he was visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley and MIT, amongst others.[3]

From 1991 until 1996, he was president of the employers federation VNO and, after the merger with NCW, of the VNO-NCW.[3] Between 1996 and 2006, Rinnooy Kan was a member of the board of directors of ING Group, where he was responsible for the Asian branch. He was a member of the Netherlands Innovation Platform until the platform was dissolved in 2010. From August 2006 until September 2012, he was president and crown-appointed member of the Dutch Social-Economic Council (SER). He was succeeded in this position by Wiebe Draijer. During his farewell party at SER he was appointed Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.[4]

Rinnooy Kan is a member of the political party Democrats 66.

Publications

Books

Selected articles

References

  1. "Rinnooy Kan weer invloedrijkste Nederlander" (in Dutch). NOS. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  2. Alexander Rinnooy Kan at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Voorzitter - dr. A.H.G. (Alexander) Rinnooy Kan" (in Dutch). Social-Economic Council. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  4. "University Professor Alexander Rinnooy Kan appointed Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion". University of Amsterdam. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

External links