Résumé Prof. dr. ir. J.G. Wissema

Hans Wissema - bio

 

Personal

Last name:Wissema
First name:Hans (Johan Gooitzen)
Date of birth:7 October 1942
NationalityDutch
Civil statusMarried to Julia G. Djarova, two children, three grandchildren
LanguagesFluent in Dutch and English; good command of French and German

Professional profile

  • Practical organiser with strong conceptual background;
  • Persuasive and diplomatic approach to governance matters; ‘Insistent diplomat’;
  • Proven ability to develop vision and strategy, combined with a practical awareness of emerging trends;
  • Experienced team leader in the implementation of well-structured, strategy-driven change processes;
  • Internationally oriented;
  • Excellent written and spoken communication skills.

Current roles and activities

  • Author of novels, children’s books, articles and columns;
  • Chair, Jury Literary Witte Award;
  • Emeritus Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Delft University of Technology.

Education

1966 MSc in Control Engineering, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST, UK);

1967 MSc in Chemical Engineering, University  of Groningen, the Netherlands;

1969 PhD, UMIST.

Past employment

1966-1972 Various research assignments at the Universities of Groningen and Manchester, TNO (as an officer during compulsory military service) and within the Department of Mathematics at Akzo Corporate Research;

1972-1977 Various staff and project management roles at the Akzo R&D and Akzo International Divisions, with projects in Indonesia, Spain, India, the United States and Japan;

1977-1985 Senior management consultant with Bakkenist, Spits & Co, a Dutch consultancy firm;

1981-1988 Professor of Technology Management at the Management Interfaculty of TU Delft, later transferred to Erasmus University Rotterdam (part-time);

1986-1997 Founder and Managing Director of The Wissema Group bv, Business and Policy Consultants, The Hague. The company was sold in a management buy-out in 1997;

1997-2015 Freelance consultant in various projects, mainly in Eastern Europe and India;

1988-1998 Professor of Strategic Management at Nijenrode Business University (part-time);

1988-1996 Non-Executive Board Member of Engineering Bureau Van Heugten, Nijmegen, the Netherlands;

1998-1999 Interim Manager of SEOR bv, a research company affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam;

1998-2002 Non-executive Board member of Triple P, a Nasdaq listed IT-company;

1998-2006 Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at TU Delft.

Consulting experience

  • Advising industrial companies, commercial and service organisations, hospitals, cooperatives, family businesses and NGOs on strategy and organisational development;
  • Restructuring R&D departments within companies and research institutes; optimising knowledge infrastructures across various sectors; co-designing national innovation policies in the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria and the North-West Region of the Russian Federation;
  • Advising the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs, Social Affairs, Defence, Agriculture, Education and Science, and Transport and Public Works;
  • Leading development projects in the Russian Federation, Poland, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Turkey, Moldova and Kazakhstan on behalf of the European Union, Dutch bilateral aid programmes, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Publications

See Books: non-fiction and Books: fiction.

Lectures and presentations

  • Since 1977, executive seminars, presentations and guest lectures have been delivered in numerous countries around the world.

Former additional activities

  • Co-founder of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development, Sofia, Bulgaria (1997- 2013);
  • Co-founder and first Chair of Amstel Private €quity Club, Amsterdam, now Amsterdam Private Equity Club (2002-2004);
  • Chair of the Foundation Network Young Entrepreneurs at TU Delft (2002–2012);
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the School for Business and Management of the Technical University of Bandung, Indonesia (2006-2010);
  • Member of the Advisory Board of Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi (2014-2018);
  • Visiting professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Ruse, Bulgaria (2004-2008);
  • Visiting professor at Ostim Technical University, Ankara, Turkey;
  • Member of the Advisory Board of Tomsk State University, Russian Federation;
  • Member of the Editorial Boards of Long Range Planning, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management and several Dutch management journals;
  • Board Member of the Dutch Strategic Management Association and the European Strategic Planning Federation;
  • Board Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Engineers of the Netherlands;
  • Member of advisory committees of the National Social-Economic Council (SER), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other organisations.

Distinctions

  • 1989 Book of the Year Award, Dutch Order of Chartered Management Consultants (OOA). 
  • Honorary member of the Amsterdam Private Equity Club.