RSM Distinguished Alumni Awards
Rotterdam, September 2009 --- Outstanding alumni of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) were honoured with awards from the dean, Prof. Dr. George Yip at the conclusion of the School’s high-profile Leadership Summit held on 10 September at Rotterdam’s World Trade Centre
The annual RSM Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented in recognition of outstanding RSM alumni who have demonstrated excellence in business and exemplify RSM’s core leadership values of openness, flexibility and acceptance of diversity.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards are sponsored by the City of Rotterdam. Representing the City of Rotterdam, Robbert Nesselaar, Creative Director of Rotterdam’s Chief Marketing Office underlined in his address the very close links between RSM and the City of Rotterdam in the commercial heart of Europe. The award winners were chosen from the 16,000 RSM alumni who currently hold executive positions in private, public and non-profit organisations worldwide. Awards were presented to four alumni for their clearly demonstrated leadership in business:
Boudewijn Beerkens, Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer; and RSM MBA graduate in 1991. He summed it up in an interview for Elsevier when he said, “The corporate world could really benefits from more MBAs, but I don’t think that an MBA is a condition for reaching the top. It certainly increases the chance of reaching the top, but next to an MBA mentality, attitude, ambition, persistence and a little bit of luck are just as important. Moreove, he has shown his appreciation and support by contacting the school this year and offering a number of projects to MBA students even at these tough economic times. Because of these characteristics, RSM honours him with this award.
Else Boutkan, Founder of Something Else; and Executive MBA graduate in 2000. Thrivbing company Something Else helps NGOs, multi-national companies, and professional organisations to build sustainable partnerships in water management, and is a bridge between the corporate world and the non-profit world. Many of her assignments involve developing business plans that enable entrepreneurs in the first world to bring their technology to the market in the third world. Else demonstrates how she uses the skills acquired during her Executive MBA in such a way that she is instrumental in making a difference in society.
Maria van der Heijden, Owner of Com Verander, an organisation that specialises in consulting on several management issues. Maria graduated in RSM Business Administration in 2000. Feeling the need to make some sort of contribution to society, Maria is also the founder of Women on Wings, where she uses her business skills to help marginalised women in India to develop themselves and to become financially independent. In this way, they can overcome poverty and create their own businesses, Maria has the ambition of creating one million new jobs for women in India by sharing her knowledge and experience in doing business, by offering them training, coaching and other business solutions.
Feike Sijbesma, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board of Royal DSM; and RSM graduate in Business Administration in 1987. Feike has shown extraordinary leadership in the transformation of DSM. He is a champion of innovation within the company and has inspired research on innovation at RSM with DSM’s sponsorship of the Chair of Innovation Management. Embracing the RSM values, Feike is member of the RSM Advisory Board Member and heavily supports innovative developments in RSM’s executive education department.
