In the early days of RSM he taught technology courses, then travelled across the United States to study how leading business schools designed and operated their classrooms. His findings laid the foundation for the design of the Delft campus where the business school operated for a time. These initiatives helped pave the way for RSM’s emergence as a globally recognised business school and its inclusion in the international rankings.
Educational innovation
Jaap become a driving force for educational innovation. As a director of Stichting Bedrijfskunde he played a key role in the introduction of the MBA programme at RSM. His connections with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, helped an international exchange programme come to fruition. He had earned his PhD in Systems Theory there.
The history of RSM – and Jaap’s role in it – has been documented. Here’s a short history of RSM 50 years.
Prof. Berend Wierenga, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Marketing Management at RSM said that without Jaap de Smit there would have never have been an MBA programme at RSM, and it was during the Jaap's time at RSM that the business school achieved its position in the international rankings.
Even after his retirement, Jaap remained involved with the school, participating in alumni events and contributing to the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of RSM in 2020.
Lecture Hall Nine
Many students will know his name even if they were never taught by him, because it was Jaap de Smit who first suggested the idea of creating a campus café, which became In de Smitse in Delft on 26 April 1988. “De Smit was a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of guy,” says historian Ronald van der Heijden (MScBA, 2002). “He thought, ‘Damn it, we’re going to have a bar’. He designed it, furnished it, worked out heating, lighting and water – he got it off the ground.” Because it was based inside the faculty building itself, with wood-panelled walls, comfortable seating and, of course, drinks, the students called it ‘Lecture Hall Nine’ – and later would recall how it embodied RSM’s can-do spirit.
It was a place where students could meet each other outside of lectures, and it started with the installation of a mobile bar in a lecture hall at TU Delft – in the period when RSM was still located there – and grew into the Café in de Smitse as we know it today: a meeting place that has meant a lot to generations of students, and a few employees of Erasmus University. The pub has had several homes on campus over the years, and is now in the Hatta building. In de Smitse will commemorate the professor who gave it its name with a collection of photos of Jaap and In de Smitse from the past.
In 2020, Erasmus Magazine published an article about the history of the Smitse: In de Smitse gets visit from its founder: ‘We had a pub built in secret’.
RSM is grateful for Jaap’s lasting contributions and his unwavering commitment to the development of RSM. His vision, determination, and dedication have left an enduring legacy. Our thoughts are with his widow Loes, his family, and all those who loved him.