This love story started in the summer of 2006. Maartje Schoolderman (BSc Business Administration 2009 and MSc Marketing Management 2011) started her studies at RSM. Stefan Bernards (BSc Business Administration 2008 and MSc Finance & Investments 2010) was her mentor in the introduction weekend of RSM STAR student association.

“Sparks were flying between us from the first day, when we flirted without reservation during the Bavaria Brewery tour,” says Stefan. The two shared their first kiss that night. And now, 15 years later, love is still in the air.

The pair enjoyed their studies, including lectures and exam stress, followed by drinks at the Oude Haven or catching up with friends at campus pub In de Smitse. “We both loved the international vibe on campus and the vibrant city of Rotterdam, which allowed us to connect with fellow students from all over the world,” says Maartje.

Both of them went on an exchange programme as part of their studies: Stefan to Taipei in 2009, and Maartje to Nicaragua and Costa Rica in 2010. Now, Stefan works as a global sales director for technology company Nedap N.V., and Maartje is proud owner of Blik Insights, a customer insights agency that turns data into actionable marketing strategies. “Our years at RSM have brought us analytical skills, broad business sense and international experiences which we use in our daily professional lives,” says Stefan.

Stefan and Maartje got married on the beach in The Hague in 2014, where they celebrated with many of their RSM classmates. They have now moved to the more quiet, eastern part of the Netherlands, and expanded the family with a baby and a dog. The two enjoy the outdoorsy lifestyle they have here, but always remain on the lookout for new adventures. With their true RSM spirit, they’re internationally minded and eager to keep learning, by being open to move abroad for an expat life or to sail the globe. They both say: “We still have plenty of dreams that keep us busy!”

Exciting international journey

“From first setting up exchanges for master students to celebrating the fall of the Berlin wall – my time at RSM has been an exciting international journey ever since I started working here in 1986.

We welcomed the first 19 students in Rotterdam from our 10 partner schools in 1988, and we sent out a similar number of students abroad. Now, we receive and send hundreds of bachelor and master students for an international exchange to and from our 175+ partner schools!

On my first business trip abroad to the PIM conference at the Stockholm School of Economics in 1987, I met so many international colleagues. The first plans for CEMS (Global Alliance in Management Education) were being discussed and I’m proud to have been a part of that. CEMS was founded in 1988. Together with Henk van Ruller, we applied for RSM to become a member of CEMS. RSM was admitted to CEMS in 1989 in Barcelona. In the same year we got accepted to PIM (Partnership in International Management) when we were in Brazil. When celebrating, the wall fell in Berlin. I remember it all so vividly.

I’m so proud to have contributed to being the first in both the CEMS and PIM network which opened up so many doors to top business schools in the whole world and enabling RSM to send our students to these schools!”

Linda de Vries

Head International Office

More excited about research than ever

“You know, I’ve never felt comfortable being in the spotlight for big celebrations – I only invited three people to my wedding! But when my department head, Prof. Ale Smidt, insisted that I needed to make a big deal of my inaugural address, it turned out to be one of my happiest memories at RSM.

This milestone made me feel liberated and energetic. I started working on a totally different area in the subsequent years, and am more excited about research than I have ever been. The celebration was a great party, and I felt very much part of a community. As a foreigner, the option of moving to another international business school is always in the back of your mind. But the inaugural address and the new chair helped me feel grounded and rooted. At other academic institutions I rarely see an environment that is so supportive and pleasant as the one at RSM.

The field of marketing is going through massive transformations forced by macro-trends like technology and the climate crisis. I’m really proud of my achievements as academic director of the MSc in Marketing Management between 2014 and 2019. I wanted to ensure that our graduates can be successful right after university and 10 years from now. We changed the programme dramatically to reflect changes in society and marketing. Within a short period of time, the programme grew in both popularity and reputation. It was a very rewarding experience.

The world is changing rapidly, and we all need to be prepared to learn new things, take new directions and question old ways. It’s scary but, with the right mindset, also exhilarating. We need to keep learning and changing throughout our careers. The only way to be successful in the long-term is to learn to not fear change, but embrace it.”

Stefano Puntoni

Professor of Marketing

"Greetings from Kyiv, Ukraine!

I studied at RSM from 1985–1991, with two semesters abroad – in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia, and at Bocconi University in Milan. RSM was known then as the Bedrijfskunde and there were only 150 students in our bachelor year so almost everybody knew your name, especially in the bar In de Smitse. We spent a lot of time in the F/G building working at the RSM computers. I remember students were only just starting to buy personal computers that had only floppy disks as memory.

Our study trip to China in 1987 was a great adventure. At that time the highest building in Wuhan [now a city of 11 million people] was the six-storey Wuying Pagoda.

I was also part of the team that made the first SVIIB Almanac. We had to collect a printed photograph of every student but we did at least have the latest software for making the layout. The memories always come flooding back when I look at those pictures. 

RSM really opened my mind and creativity through its scientific and broad approach to management. In my first year I took the toolmaking course in Delft, which showed us what it was like to be a machine operator. We also had courses in practical applications of high-level philosophy, and many of our lectures were given by the professors who had written the books we were studying. I have special memories of Professor Henk van Ruller, a really fantastic mentor who really represented the spirit of Erasmus to me, and Linda de Vries who is still, I understand, the energy behind the programme!

RSM made me go abroad: I had the opportunity to do the International Management CEMS programme and two exchanges. I remember an incredible rhetoric course on persuasive skills, and after a traineeship with five other students in Curaçao, we even set up our own course on the managerial aspects of small islands. 

I ended up working and living in France. CEMS actually helped me to get my first job when the director of HEC Paris explained to the company that hired me that my RSM CEMS degree was equivalent to HEC’s CEMS degree!"
 

Willem Coppoolse
Director of the Naftogaz Group Commerce Division in Kiev, Ukraine.

“I had already planned a summer vacation when we found out that RSM had an interview to become members of CEMS, the global alliance in management education. We had applied for the membership in the spring of 1989, one year after CEMS was founded.

Henk van Ruller, a strong protagonist of RSM’s internationalisation, had arranged this interview with the founding members of CEMS (ESADE, HEC Paris, Bocconi, and Cologne). This interview was to take place at the premises of HEC in Paris and was scheduled for a specific date in July. Henk, with a nice smile, let me know that I, as the Dean of RSM, was supposed to be there. So we decided to include this event in our vacation schedule and made a camping stop near Paris.

That morning, the camping folk were very surprised to see me stepping out of our tent in a three-piece suit and tie for the meeting at HEC. The admission interview was very serious, and I, together with the Dean of Louvain-la-Neuve, another aspiring CEMS member, had to wait outside for the verdict. At some point, they finally called us in, and I got the message that RSM was accepted as member of CEMS. I was very proud.”

Read Prof. Wierenga’s memoir.

Berend Wierenga

Former Dean of RSM
Professor Emeritus of Marketing
Founder of the Department of Marketing Management 

Carolien Buijs graduated from RSM's business administration programme in 2005. Specialising in marketing management, she is now global marketing manager at New York Media Group, leading the marketing team and thriving on her company’s positive can-do mentality.

“I have many fond memories of my time at RSM. I won the Marketing Thesis Award and was  part of scientific research on consumer behaviour. I loved being a part of the university, studying in the library, drinking ‘Mellow Mornings and Heavenly Hazels’ and walking around campus in all seasons. I remember drinking beers at café In de Smitse with my fellow students and members of the ‘Introductiecommissie Bedrijfskunde’ where I fulfilled the role of Commissaris Bedrijfskunde’

“At RSM, I learned to persevere and go the extra mile. I now apply this both to my work and my love of travel. I’d advise anyone starting at RSM today to do the same. Always be critical and think for yourself. And when times are difficult, look for the sparks that can give you that little extra energy you need. If you do that, you’ll get the results that can push you even further.”

Carolien Buijs

Global marketing manager, New York Media Group