Board of Recommendation

The Board of Recommendation consists of the following persons:

Prof. Philip Eijlander, MA, PhD
Rector Magnificus of Tilburg University

Prof. Philip Eijlander (1957) is Rector Magnificus of Tilburg University. He is a professor in the field of Constitutional and Administrative Law. From 2005 until July 1st 2008 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Law. His working experience is not only in Academia, but also in the Dutch public service. He was the director of the Science Policy and Development Department of the Ministry of Justice (1993-1995) and of the Supervision Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (1995-1997).

Throughout his career he has taught many graduate and postgraduate courses to students, researchers and legal professionals in administrative law, public administration, legislative theory and practise, both at Tilburg University and at other institutions, nationally as well as internationally.

Prof. Eijlander’s academic publication record runs to approximately 150 works (see www.uvt.nl/webwijs). He has been supervisor of several PhD. students. In the Fall of 2008 he was a visiting scholar at the Law Centre of Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

Prof. Klaas Knot
President of the Nederlandsche Bank N.V.

He started both his education and his employment at the University of Groningen. While studying for his doctorate in Economics he was employed as trainee research assistant after which he already became employed at the Nederlandsche Bank NV as (senior) economist and policy executive. He would return for another two times before becoming President in July 2011.

Klaas Knot has not only worked in the Netherlands but was also active for the International Monetary Fund in Washington. At present he employs several additional positions such as Member of the Governing Council and General Council of the European Central Bank, Governor of the International Monetary Fund and Member of the Financial Stability Board in Frankfurt, Basel and Washington.

In the past, Klaas Knot has been a Member of the Board of the Duisenberg School of Finance and participated as (guest) editor for Journal of Banking and Finance and for the journal “Pensioen Bestuur & Management”. Next to this he wrote several books and series of articles and speeches.

Prof. Dr. Harald A. Benink
Professor of Banking and Finance at Tilburg University

Harald Benink (1964) was appointed Professor of Banking and Finance and Fellow of the Centre for Economic Research (CentER) at Tilburg University in 2008. At Tilburg University he also serves as Dean of International Affairs at the School of Economics and Management. Furthermore, Prof. Benink has been a Senior Research Associate to the Financial Markets Group (FMG) of the London School of Economics (LSE) since 2001.

Before joining Tilburg University, Harald Benink was Professor of Finance at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University during the period 1999-2008. At RSM, he also served as Founding Chairman and Dean of the BSc/MSc in International Business Administration program and as an Executive Director of RSM Corporation with a primary responsibility for executive education.

Harald Benink holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Tilburg University, a Master’s degree in Financial Economics fromTiasNimbas Business School, Tilburg University and received his Ph.D. degree in Finance and Economics from Maastricht University.

Jan Hommen
CEO of ING

Jan Hommen graduated with a master’s degree in Business Economics from the Tilburg University (the Netherlands). Jan Hommen was appointed to the Supervisory Board of ING Group as of 1 June 2005 and became chairman of the Supervisory Board in January 2008. Until 1 May 2005, he was vice-chairman and CFO of Koninklijke Philips Electronics. From 1975 to 1997, he worked for Alcoa Inc. From 1978, he worked at Alcoa’s head office in the United States, becoming CFO in 1991.

Jan Hommen is also chairman of the Management Boards Banking and Insurance. Seven Group staff departments report directly to Mr. Hommen: Corporate Legal Department, Corporate Human Resources, Corporate Development, Corporate Communications & Affairs, Public & Government Affairs, Sustainability and Corporate Audit Services.

Jean-François van Boxmeer
CEO of Heineken

Jean-François van Boxmeer studied Economics at the Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix S.J. in Namur (Belgium) and obtained his master degree in 1984.

Following his graduation, he started his career with Heineken in the Netherlands as a trainee in production, sales and administration and worked on an assignment in Cameroon. In 1987 he was appointed Sales & Marketing Manager of Heineken Bralirwa in Rwanda and in 1990 he became Sales & Marketing Manager of Heineken Bralima in the Democratic Republic Congo, where he was appointed General Manager in 1993.

The next step in his career took him to Poland in 1996 as President & General manager of Zywiec S.A. and as Vice-President & General manager of Grupa Zywiec S.A. in 1999. In 2000 he was appointed General Manager of Heineken Italia Spa. In 2001 Jean-François van Boxmeer was appointed Member Executive Board/COO of Heineken N.V. and on 1 October 2005 he became Chairman Executive Board/CEO.

Prof. Wim van de Donk PhD
Queen’s Commissioner Noord-Brabant

Prof. Wim van de Donk PhD (1962) holds a Masters Degree in Political Science and Administrative Sciences from the Radboud University in Nijmegen. He was appointed as the Queens Commissioner in the Province of Noord-Brabant from October 1 2009. He also is a professor at Tilburg University.Before he was nominated as the Queens Commissioner he served as Chairman of the Scientific Council for Government Policy (www.wrr.nl) and as a professor in the Tilburg School for Politics and Public Administration, Faculty of Law, Tilburg University. He holds a PhD from Tilburg University (1997, cum laude) and earlier on he served in the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the Expertise Centre for Government Informatics in The Hague.

He served as chairman/member of several advisory committees: good governance of charities (2007); the audit commitee of the Dutch Public Broadcast (2005); the core-values of the constitutional state (2008); the future of Dutch drugs policy (2009); the council for the social sciences of the Dutch Royal Academy of Science. He was chairman/member of the Board of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Tilburg and of an institution for vocational training in Tilburg. He is president of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA Brussels) since September 2010.