Alexander Hendrik George Rinnooy Kan (born 5 October 1949) is a Dutch politician, businessman and mathematician who served as Chairman of the
Social and Economic Council
The Social and Economic Council ( Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social pa ...
from 2006 to 2012. A member of the
Democrats 66 (D66) party, he was a member of the
Senate from 2015 to 2019 and is a
distinguished professor
Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs.
In the United States
Often specific to one institution, titles such ...
of Economics and Business Studies at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
since 1 September 2012. He has also been president of the
supervisory board
In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors.
In civil s ...
of
EYE Film Institute Netherlands
Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands.
Location and history
Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in ...
since 2008 and of
Museum Boerhaave
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is a museum of the history of science and medicine, based in Leiden, Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of historical scientific instruments from all disciplines, but mainly from medicine, physics, and astronomy.
Th ...
since 2018.
Biography
Early life and education
Rinnooy Kan grew up in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
. He graduated with a
doctorandus degree (eq. to
MSc) in mathematics at
Leiden University in 1972. The same year, he also obtained a
candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* ...
degree (eq. to
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
) in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
from the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
. In 1972–1973, 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
Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...
(then called the Delft Technical College). In 1976, he obtained a
PhD in mathematics at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
; he was advised by
Gijsbert de Leve
Gijsbert (Gijs) de Leve (15 August 1926 – 19 November 2009) was a Dutch mathematician and operations researcher, known for his work on Markov decision process. Gijs de Leve is considered the founder of operations research in the Netherlands.
B ...
.
Private career
In 1977, he went to the
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...
, where he became a full
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
in
Operations Research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
in 1980 at the age of 30. In 1983, he was appointed head of the
Econometric Institute
Econometric Institute (Dutch ''Econometrisch Instituut'') at the Erasmus University Rotterdam is a leading research institute in the fields of econometrics and management science in the Netherlands. The Institute offers advanced education in econom ...
and in 1986
rector magnificus
A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...
of the university. In the meantime, he was visiting professor at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
, among others.
[
From 1991 until 1996, he was president of the employers federation VNO and (after the merger with NCW) of the VNO-NCW.] Between 1996 and 2006, Rinnooy Kan was a member of the board of directors of ING Group
The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale bankin ...
, where he was responsible for the Asian branch. He was a member of the Netherlands Innovation Platform until the platform was dissolved in 2010.
Social Economic Council
From 2006 until 2012, he was a crown-appointed member and Chairman of the Social and Economic Council
The Social and Economic Council ( Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social pa ...
(SER). He was succeeded in this position by Wiebe Draijer. During his farewell party at the SER he was appointed Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion
The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...
. The Dutch newspaper '' de Volkskrant'' named him the most influential person in the Netherlands in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Senate
On 9 June 2015, he became a member of the Senate on behalf of the Democrats 66 party. He did not seek reelection to the upper chamber in 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
; his term ended on 11 June 2019.
Publications
Books
* 1985 ''The Traveling Salesman Problem: A Guided Tour of Combinatorial Optimization''. With Eugene L. Lawler, Jan Karel Lenstra, and David B. Shmoys. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
* 1993, ''Logistics of Production and Inventory. Vol. 4.'' with Stephen C. Graves, and Paul Herbert Zipkin, eds.
Selected articles
* Byrd, R. H., Dert, C. L., Rinnooy Kan, A. H. G., & Schnabel, R. B. (1990). "Concurrent Stochastic Methods for Global Optimization". ''Mathematical Programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
'', 46(1-3), 1-29.
* Lenstra, A. K., A. H. G. Rinnooy Kan, and Alexander Schrijver. "History of Mathematical Programming: A Collection of Personal Reminiscences." (1991).
* Bastian, Cock, and Alexander H. G. Rinnooy Kan. "The Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem Revisited." ''European Journal of Operational Research'' 56.3 (1992): 407–412.
* Flippo, O. E., & Rinnooy Kan, A. H. G. (1993). "Decomposition in General Mathematical Programming". ''Mathematical Programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
'', 60(1-3), 361–382.
* Lawler, Eugene L., J. K. Lenstra, A. H. G. Rinnooy Kan, and D.B. Shmoys .
Sequencing and Scheduling: Algorithms and Complexity
" ''Handbooks in Operations Research and Management Science'' 4 (1993): 445–522.
Decorations
References
External links
;Official
*
Prof.Dr. A.H.G. (Alexander) Rinnooy Kan
Parlement & Politiek
*
Prof.Dr. A.H.G. Rinnooy Kan (D66)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinnooy Kan, Alexander
1949 births
Living people
Business educators
Chairmen of the Social and Economic Council
Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology
Democrats 66 politicians
Dutch academic administrators
Dutch business theorists
Dutch business writers
Dutch corporate directors
Dutch financial writers
Dutch nonprofit executives
Dutch nonprofit directors
Dutch trade association executives
Dutch political writers
Dutch technology writers
Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Leiden University alumni
Academic staff of Leiden University
Mathematical economists
Mathematics writers
Members of the Senate (Netherlands)
Members of the Social and Economic Council
People from Bloemendaal
Politicians from The Hague
Rectors of universities in the Netherlands
University of Amsterdam alumni
Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam
20th-century Dutch businesspeople
20th-century Dutch civil servants
20th-century Dutch economists
20th-century Dutch educators
20th-century Dutch male writers
20th-century Dutch mathematicians
20th-century Dutch politicians
21st-century Dutch businesspeople
21st-century Dutch civil servants
21st-century Dutch economists
21st-century Dutch educators
21st-century Dutch male writers
21st-century Dutch mathematicians
21st-century Dutch politicians