Dr. Johan (Sjeng) Kremers (born 10 May 1933) was the Queen's Commissioner of the Dutch province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

from 1977 to 1990.

Early life

Kremers was born in

Nieuwenhagen Nieuwenhagen is a former village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is now a part of the municipality of Landgraaf. Nieuwenhagen was a separate municipality until 1982, when it became a part of Landgraaf. Notable natives * Harry Kempen * Joe ...

, a village in the province of

, in the very south of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. His father was a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

who worked 37 years underground in the Laura mine in

Eygelshoven Eygelshoven (, li, Egelze , Ripuarian: ) is a village, since 1982 part of the town of Kerkrade, in the southeast of the Netherlands, close to the German and Belgian borders. It has two former coal mines, ''Laura'' and ''Julia'', which were nam ...

. From 1951 to 1957 he studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (presently known as the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

). In 1960 he obtained his doctorate in

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

at the Nijmegen University. He was a scientific research worker at the psychological laboratory of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1960 up to 1961. From 1961 until 1972 he worked at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. In 1972 Dr. Kremers became a member of the Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid, an independent

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

for the Dutch government.

Queen's Commissioner of the province of Limburg

On August 1, 1977 Dr. Kremers was appointed as Queen's Commissioner of the Dutch province of

. The province of Limburg was in turmoil then, because of the government-initiated mine closures. Unemployment within the province was extremely high, because many miners had been dismissed, but also because of the deteriorating (inter)national economic situation. In 1977 unemployment within the province of Limburg was twice as high as in the Netherlands as a whole. As Queen's Commissioner Dr. Kremers conducted an active

economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

to reduce the effects of the mine closures and to push back

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

. The economic restructuring policy for the province of Limburg was aimed at: *the creation of alternative employment within the already existing chemical factories of the mines. *the stimulation of new industries. *the relocation of a number of large government services form the seat of the government 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 of ...

to the province of Limburg. In 1975 the provincial government commissioned an independent company, the Industriebank LIOF to support existing employment and attract alternative employment. Since 1975 this organization has brought over 100 companies to the province of Limburg. In 1982 the provincial government drew up a plan to stimulate tourism in South Limburg. The plan was aimed at four specific fields: conference tourism, holiday tourism, water sports and recreational facilities for a day trip. Conference tourism was given a considerable boost with the building of the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC). On May 16, 1990 Dr. Kremers resigned as Queen's Commissioner. The economy of the province of Limburg, although still weak, is in line with the national economy. Because of the successful economic policies Dr. Kremers is affectionately known in the province of Limburg as "Der Sjeng".

Later life

After his resignation as Queen's Commissioner Dr. Kremers became vice-chairman of the

Robeco Robeco is an originally Dutch asset management firm, since 2013 part of Orix, founded in 1929 as the Rotterdamsch Beleggings Consortium (Rotterdam Investment Consortium). As of 2014, the company had €246 billion of assets under management. It ...

Group, a Dutch

portfolio company A portfolio company is a company or entity in which a venture capital firm, a startup studio, or a holding company invests. All companies currently backed by a private equity firm can be spoken of as the firm's portfolio Portfolio may refer to: ...

. He retired in December 1997.

References

*Jan Derix, ''Limburg'', Eisma Publishers, Leeuwarden. *Jan Derix, ''Perspectief voor Limburg'', Eisma Publishers, Leeuwarden. *''Parlement en Politiek'
parlement.com biography Dr. J. Kremers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremers, Johan 1933 births Living people King's and Queen's Commissioners of Limburg Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Catholic People's Party politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians Dutch civil servants Dutch corporate directors Dutch psychologists Dutch republicans Dutch Roman Catholics Directors of the Scientific Council for Government Policy Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Radboud University Nijmegen faculty University of California, Berkeley staff People from Landgraaf

Early life

Queen's Commissioner of the province of Limburg

Later life

See also

References