Josephus Antonius van Kemenade (6 March 1937 – 19 February 2020) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and sociologist. He was granted the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

on 5 April 2002.

Life and career

Van Kemenade was born in Amsterdam. He attended a Gymnasium in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

from June 1949 until 1955 and applied at 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 June 1955 majoring in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Social Science The academic undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Social Science (BSS, B.Soc.Sc., or B.Soc.Sci.) requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. I ...

degree in June 1957 and worked as a student researcher before graduating with a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree in May 1960. Van Kemenade worked as a researcher at the Radboud University Nijmegen from May 1960 until January 1965 and was director of the Institute for Social Sciences from 1 January 1965 until 11 May 1973. Van Kemenade returned to the Radboud University Nijmegen in July 1964 for a

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

in Sociology where he got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in Sociology on 10 May 1968. Van Kemenade worked as a professor of

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

at the Radboud University Nijmegen from 1 January 1970 until 11 May 1973. After the election of 1972 Van Kemenade was appointed as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Den Uyl, taking office on 11 May 1973. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. Van Kemenade was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1977, taking office on 8 June 1977 but he was still serving in the cabinet, and because of dualism customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics, he couldn't serve a

dual mandate A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

so he subsequently resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 8 September 1977. The Cabinet Den Uyl was replaced by the Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel following the cabinet formation of 1977 on 11 May 1973 and he subsequently returned as Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Frits Niessen, taking office on 16 January 1978 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. Van Kemenade also returned as a distinguished professor of Pedagogy at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

from 1 May 1978 until 11 September 1981. After the election of 1981 Van Kemenade was again appointed as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

Cabinet Van Agt III on 29 May 1982. After the election of 1982 Van Kemenade again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 16 September 1982 serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee on Education and Science and the parliamentary committee on Kingdom Relations. Van Kemenade also returned as a distinguished professor of Pedagogy 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 ...

from 1 July 1982 until 1 September 1984. In September 1984 Van Kemenade was nominated as the President of the University council of the University of Amsterdam, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as President of the university council on 1 September 1984. Van Kemenade also served as a distinguished professor of Pedagogy at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

from 1 February 1987 until 1 February 1995. In February 1988 Van Kemenade was nominated as

Mayor of Eindhoven This is a list of mayors of Eindhoven since 1920. In 2022, five surrounding municipalities merged into the municipality of Eindhoven, thus creating the municipality in its current shape. {, class = "wikitable sortable" , - ! Start ! End ! Mayor ! ...

, he resigned as President of the university council the same day he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 1 March 1988. In February 1992 Van Kemenade was nominated as the Queen's Commissioner of North Holland, he resigned as Mayor the same day he was installed as Queen's Commissioner, serving from 1 May 1992 until 1 April 2002. Van Kemenade also became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards ( Institute for Multiparty Democracy, Organisation for Scientific Research,

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

, Parliamentary Documentation Center,

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...

, ProDemos, Foundation for Academic Heritage,

International Society for Comparative Adult Education The International Society for Comparative Adult Education (or ISCAE) is a network of individuals and organizations with members in more than thirty countries. Purpose Comparative education is a well-established field of study that examines educat ...

T.M.C. Asser Instituut The T.M.C. Asser Instituut (or ''Asser Institute'') is a professional inter-university centre of knowledge and research. The institute carries out research in private and public international law, European law, as well as all other related fields, ...

Anne Frank Foundation The Anne Frank Foundation ( nl, Anne Frank Stichting) is a foundation in the Netherlands originally established to maintain the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This foundation also advocates the fight against antisemitism and racism and publishes t ...

, and the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Council for Public Administration, Public Pension Funds APB, Council for Culture and the Cadastre Agency. Van Kemenade also served as a distinguished visiting professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam from 1 March 2000 until 1 May 2002. Van Kemenade was also a prolific author, having written more than a dozen books since 1970 about

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

. Van Kemenade was known for his abilities as a consensus builder and ''

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