MBA Alumni Reunion 2022

Lija Groenewoud - van Vliet is the co-producer and creative director of In4Art, the company she established in 2015 and is currently acknowledged as a EU Science+ Technology+ Arts Regional Center. In her role, she combines her passions for innovation, technology, and art. Lija dedicates her time to guiding curiosity and creating space for the kind of experimentation that drives innovation. She has co-produced over 10 works and spoke on international stages on how developed the Art-Driven Innovation method can help organisations incorporate socially responsible innovation. Next to that, Lija is also the co-founder of OurkilO, a circular startup preventing single-use plastic waste and member of the supervisory board of DEN: knowledge institute for culture and digitalisation.

Through Art-Driven Innovation, In4Art explores new paths for progress. In4Art translates the innovation and reflection potential of art into implications for business & society through radical observations & artistic prototypes. Lija developed the Art-Driven Innovation method to help organisations incorporate ideas from art into socially responsible innovation. Furthermore, she acts as a co-producer in experimental projects on data interfaces and closing material loops. Next to that, it is the Regional S+T+ARTS centre in the EU ‘Repairing the Present’ project.

Lija was a lecturer at the Rotterdam School of Management on Responsible Innovation Management (2018-2021) and is currently a member of the supervisory board of DEN: knowledge institute for culture and digitalisation. She is about to launch the startup OurkilO.

Julija Mell is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management of Rotterdam School of Management. She is the Academic Director of the Cologne-Rotterdam Executive MBA. She obtained her PhD in Organizational Behavior in 2015 at Erasmus University Rotterdam and her Diploma in Psychology in 2010 at the Humboldt University Berlin, Germany.

Her research focuses on collaboration across boundaries – for example, bridging cognitive boundaries within diverse teams, bridging geographical and cultural boundaries within globally dispersed teams, and bridging structural boundaries within complex social systems and networks. Her work has been published in leading academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Management Studies. Her research has been recognized by several awards, including the ERIM Outstanding Performance by a Young Researcher Award (2021), the ERIM Top Article Award (2021), the Academy of Management’s Managerial and Organizational Cognition Divison’s Best Paper Award (2021), and INGroup’s Best Conference Paper Award (2019).

Dirk Deichmann is an Associate Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Treasurer of the Department of Technology and Operations Management. In his research he focuses on the determinants and consequences of creative and innovative behavior, with particular emphasis on the question of how sustained and successful idea generation, development, and implementation can be achieved. 

Bill Collins, PhD teaches Organizational Behavior, Cross-cultural Leadership, Change Management, Negotiations, and Human Resources. His more recent teaching has been with the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School (USA), the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands) and the Gdańsk Foundation for Management Development (Poland). Bill also teaches in-company management development programmes with organizations. Bill received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He did his undergraduate work at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. Bill currently lives in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Previously, he lived and worked in Spain and the United States.

Harwin de Vries is Assistant Professor at the Technology and Operations Management department at RSM. His research focuses on health & humanitarian logistics, with a particular focus on disaster relief logistics and the logistics behind enhancing access to essential medicines and health services in LMICs. Harwin has collaborated closely with more than twenty humanitarian/ health organizations, studying how key decisions in health/ humanitarian supply chains (e.g., location, inventory, routing, planning, allocation, or assignment decisions) affect patients or beneficiaries and how they could be improved. He particularly explores the potential role of data and prescriptive analytics and new operating models in the sectors (e.g., service delivery through mobile health units). Harwin's current teaching portfolio includes courses on Health & Humanitarian Logistics (MSc & MBA), Business Analytics (EMBA), and Spreadsheet Modelling (BSc & Pre-MSc). 

Harwin won several prizes with his research, including the 2021 ERIM Award for Outstanding Performance by a Young Researcher and the INFORMS Healthcare Best Student Paper Award 2015, and published several academic papers in leading scientific journals, including Production and Operations Management, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Omega, PLoS Computational Biology, and European Journal of Operational Research. Several of his research projects have been transformed in teaching cases. Harwin also serves as academic focal point at the Dutch Coalition for Humanitarian Innovation. Before joining RSM, Harwin worked at INSEAD (France) as postdoctoral researcher and manager of the INSEAD Humanitarian Research Group. Harwin holds a PhD degree in Operations Research from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Antonie Knoppers is an actor, facilitator, and coach. His goal in executive education is to bring out the leader in everyone, by creating presence and a centred mind and body. He has a passion for acting as well as for guiding leaders to reach their full potential, and he has worked with a variety of corporate clients. He coaches and teaches participants how to present themselves, and perform effectively under pressure in the business environment. Presence can be taught and with practice, embodied. Knoppers’ experience and business school education enable him to approach corporate challenges with a pragmatic, goal-oriented style. He is co-author of Leading with Presence (Emerald Publishing 2021) and wrote How To Have Effective Zoom Meetings—And Make Them Less Boring for Forbes magazine (March 2021). He is adjunct faculty at RSM and guest faculty at Nyenrode University and the University of Maastricht. Antonie holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University (Summa Cum Laude) and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of San Diego/Old Globe Theatre. 

Professor Hanneke Takkenberg is co-executive director of the Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO) at RSM, and professor of Clinical Decision Making in Cardio-Thoracic Interventions at Erasmus Medical Centre.

Her medical career has included research and practice in Los Angeles and Rotterdam, and she became a professor at Erasmus MC in 2012. Her efforts to improve healthcare and equality for women ̶ as patients and medical professionals ̶ resulted in the 2018 Els Borst award and the 2019 Caty Asscher award.

She is the founder of VENA, the Erasmus MC network for women in academia, and was Chief Diversity Officer at EUR. She is currently chair of the Dutch Network for Women Professors.

Jan-Chris Koenders is Managing Director Toyota Lexus Nederland, Louwman & Parqui B.V, the Netherlands’ importer for Toyota and Lexus and the second-largest independent car importer in the country.

His automotive career shows a track record of business management and branding innovation, first with Toyota in the USA, then BMW of North America and BMW AG in Germany before his return to the Netherlands.

For BMW, he headed brand communications for the re-launch of MINI, set up one of the world’s first marketing innovation labs, and initiated the internet-enabling ConnectedDrive and CleanEnergy hydrogen projects. In 2006, as VP of BMW Group Global Marketing, he repositioned the brand with BMW EfficientDynamics, and initiated the BMWi brand. In 2010 he became Managing Director of BMW Group Nederland. From 2014 to 2016 he was Chief Operating Officer of BMW of North America. Further following his passion for cars and returning to his roots in the Netherlands, Jan-Chris joined the Louwman family to lead the transformation of business, founded in 1923, into a next generation automotive importer.

Magriet Vonno is the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Singapore and Brunei, and an RSM alumna. Her role is to connect strategy, politics, business and people.

She studied International Relations at Utrecht University, and gained an MBA from RSM before working for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New York, Washington DC, Brussels and The Hague.

She was director of the Strategy and Policy Advice department in the Netherlands Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment, and deputy director of the Europe Department at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was on the advisory board of the international cycling conference Velocity in 2017, and is a board member of the Dutch Association of Public Management.

Eva Rood is director of RSM’s Positive Change Initiative that facilitates positive change through business development and innovation projects. She is project leader of the EU-funded European Network for the Advancement of Business and Landscape Education.

Eva started her career in communications before joining Erasmus University, first in programme management, then in alumni and corporate relations. Later she established networks for entrepreneurs that grew into the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. She set up the Erasmus Sustainability Hub, co-launched the Erasmus Honors Programme Grand Challenges, and worked on the launch of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability. She holds a master in psychology from Utrecht University.

Eva's LinkedIn profile

Dirk Schoenmaker is Professor of Banking and Finance at RSM and a regular consultant for the IMF, the OECD and the European Commission. He focuses on sustainable finance, central banking and financial stability, financial system architecture, and European financial integration.

He is also a non-Resident Fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel and a Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Research (CEPR). He is author and co-author of several books, including From Risk to Opportunity - A framework for sustainable finance published by RSM.

His previous experience includes Dean of the Duisenberg school of finance, and posts in the Netherlands Ministry of Finance and at the Bank of England.

Sofya Isaakyan is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Behaviour from Maastricht University in 2018.

Her research focuses on understanding employees' upward expression of ideas and concerns about work-related issues (i.e., voice behavior) and the corresponding reactions by managers and team members. In her work, she also explores factors affecting leadership development and leader identity. Before entering academia, Sofya worked as a consultant and evaluated the effectiveness of leadership development programs.

Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen is an expert on diversity and inclusion. She is Chair of the Advisory Board of SER Topvrouwen, and represents the Netherlands and its private sector in the G20 EMPOWER Alliance. Last year, she attended the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women Empowerment in Italy.

She holds several senior positions with the international professional services firm Aon: as Chairman on one of its Executive Boards, and Global Chief Marketing Officer and Member of the Executive Committee of Aon Inpoint. She holds non-executive roles with Kelp Blue, NautaDutilh, the global alumni board of Harvard Business School, Dutch Royal Military Museums, the American Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands, and she is Ambassador for the United World College Maastricht.

In 2021 she received the Ambassador J. William Middendorf II award for strengthening relations between the USA and the Netherlands. She has a Master in Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam and is an alumna of INSEAD and Harvard Business School.

Rob van Tulder is a professor of International Business-Society Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). 

Prof. van Tulder teaches executive courses for managers and academics on international strategic management and has been a visiting professor at several international universities. Additionally, he consults for international organisations, ministries and companies. 

He supports the creation of expert centres around the world that enable companies to improve their sustainability strategy in cooperation with other societal stakeholders. Together with the University of the Philippines, Prof. van Tulder has recently created an expert centre surrounding ‘inclusive value chains’ (the C4C centre in Manila). 
Professor van Tulder is co-founder of RSM's Department of Business-Society Management and founder and academic director of The Partnerships Resource Centre.