Jo Ritzen

Jozef Ritzen, (Dutch national, physics engineer, economist and politician) was Minister of Education, Culture, and Science of the Netherlands from 1989–1998, one of the longest-serving Ministers of Education in the world. During his term, he enacted a series of major reforms throughout the Dutch education system. Subsequently, he was Vice-President of the World Bank (1998–2003) and President of Maastricht University (2003–2011). During his Presidency, Maastricht University grew to be one of the leading international teaching research universities, with a problem-based learning approach to education and nearly half of its students coming from abroad. It is now ranked Number 4 on the list of ‘Young universities’ (less than 50 years old). Jozef Ritzen is now honourary professor of Maastricht University, Senior Advisor to the International Institute of Labor Studies IZA in Bonn, Special Adviser to RAND Europe, and a member of the International Advisory Boards of several universities.

Jo received the Constance Meldrum Award for Vision and Leadership in 2016 for being a continuous driving force in the field for almost three decades.