Jozef Marie Mathias "Jo" Ritzen (born 3 October 1945) is a retired
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian.
Erasmus M ...
from June 1972 until July 1976. Ritzen worked as a civil engineering consultant in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
from August 1976 until April 1978 and as a visiting professor of Education economics at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
from September 1978 until May 1979. Ritzen worked as an associate professor of
Public economics
Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and Equity (economics), equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as ...
at the
Radboud University Nijmegen
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students.
Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...
from May 1978 until January 1981 and a professor of Education economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam from January 1981 until September 1982. Ritzen worked as a political consultant for the Labour Party from September 1982 until November 1989 and also as science advisor for the Leader of the Labour Party and
Parliamentary leader
A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...
of the Labour Party in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
Joop den Uyl
Johannes Marten den Uijl (9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987), better known as Joop den Uyl (), was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA ...
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
Hedy d'Ancona
Hedwig "Hedy" d'Ancona (; born 1 October 1937) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture between 1989 and 1994.
Biography Education and early career
Hedwig d'Ancona was born ...
formateur
A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...
Wim Kok
Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.State Secretary for Education and Sciences
Job Cohen
Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as List of mayors of Amsterdam, Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from ...
for the post of Minister of Education and Sciences in the new
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
but
Cohen
Cohen () is a surname of Jewish, Samaritan and Biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is a very common Jewish surname (the most common in Israel). Cohen is one of the four Samaritan last names that exist in the modern day. Many Jewish immigrants ente ...
per his own request asked not to be considered for a cabinet post as his wife was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
. Kok subsequently approached Ritzen to continued in the post as the newly renamed Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Cabinet Kok I, taking office on 22 August 1994. In December 1997 Ritzen announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1998, the Cabinet Kok I was replaced by the Cabinet Kok II on 3 August 1998.
Biography
Education and academic career
Ritzen started in 1963 at
Bernardinus College
Bernardinuscollege is a school in Heerlen, the Netherlands. The school was founded by Franciscan friars in 1903 as a monastery, that was later converted to a Hogere Burgerschool, because of the need for education in the wake of the blooming mining ...
in Heerlen. In 1970 he obtained an
engineer's degree
An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering which is conferred in Europe, some countries of Asia and Latin America, North Africa and a few institutions in the United States. The degree may require a thesis but always require ...
in
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
from the
Institute of Technology
An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...
. He received his
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
degree in 1976 from the
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian.
Erasmus MC, ...
with the thesis "
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
,
economic growth
In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...
, and
income inequality metrics
Income inequality metrics or income distribution metrics are used by social scientists to measure the distribution of wealth, distribution of income and economic inequality among the participants in a particular economy, such as that of a specific ...
". The thesis received the Winkler Prins Prize as the best economics dissertation in the period 1975–1978.
Before entering politics, Ritzen worked in a variety of jobs: as a project consultant in former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), as a lecturer in the economics of education at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, at the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (now
Radboud University
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students.
Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistently been included in ...
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
in the United States. He has written or co-authored eleven books. Many articles written or co-authored by him are published in the fields of education, economics, public finance and development economics.
third Lubbers Cabinet
The Third Lubbers cabinet, also called the Lubbers–Kok cabinet, was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch government from 7 November 1989 to 22 August 1994. The cabinet was formed the Christian ...
(Christian Democrats-Social Democrats, Lubbers-Kok). In the same cabinet he was Minister of Welfare, Health, and Culture (including Sports) for three months in 1994. That same year, with the installation of the cabinet Kok 1 (Liberals, Social Liberals and Social Democrats), he became Minister of Education, Culture, and Sciences until 1998.
As a minister he introduced the OV-studentenkaart in 1990, a card giving free
public transportation
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
to students, and later the Prestatiebeurs, a new form of student financing where student grants would only be available for those who completed their studies. The LSVb (one of the major student unions) resisted both initiatives.
Ritzen contributed greatly to the reformation of the governance of Higher Education. Institutes of higher education would be governed by a governing board selected from the leading people of the major directions of life (business, justice, culture), excluding politicians. This board appoints the managing board of the university which has full authority and responsibility. This reform is sometimes recognized as the basis for the success of Dutch universities in international rankings in the early decades of the 21st century.
During his period in office, many parts of the Dutch education system were reformed: secondary education, through a law which made transitions from different streams easier (“basisvorming”), the second stage of secondary education with more emphasis on self-learning of students and vocational education (a law abbreviated as “WEB”).
Also, the science system was substantially modified amongst others by including public private programs, between industry and public research institutes.
Ritzen was the longest-serving Minister of Education in the EU and one of longest serving in the world.
In 1998, after his term as a Minister he became an adviser to the President of the World bank, Jim Wolfenson and later a
vice presidents
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice ...
of the
World bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, serving in the Research Department (together with Chief Economists Joe Stiglitz and Nick Stern as) and as vice president for Human Development.
He left the World Bank to become president of
Maastricht University
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities.
In ...
in February 2003 until February 2011. During that period, Maastricht University grew to become one of the leading international teaching and research universities, with almost half of its students coming from abroad and problem-based learning as the primary educational method. In 2013, the university was ranked number 6 worldwide in the Times Higher Education Ranking of young (“under 50”) universities (established after 1963).
During his career he has made significant contributions to agencies such as UNESCO and OECD, especially in the field of education and social cohesion. He also served on the Supervisory Board of Educational Testing Service (Princeton) from 2002 to 2014 and to several Dutch firms from 1981 to 1989 (before becoming a Minister).
He is now honorary professor of Maastricht University, senior advisor to the International Institute of Labor Studies IZA in Bonn, member of the International Advisory Board of RANEPA (Moskou) and KAU (Jeddah), adviser to several ministers of education, Chair and Founder of Empower European Universities and Initiator of the Vibrant Europe Forum, whose goal is to contribute to the European Parliamentary Elections in the areas of innovation, higher education, research, labour market, greening and income equality policy. He is also the President of th Conflict and Education Learning Laboratory a non-profit foundation, registered in the Netherlands, which is dedicated to working for an international agreement to reduce divisive stereotypes in school textbooks.
Since 2015 he has been active as the chairman of the International Museum for Family History's Friends Foundation.