It is with deep regret that we have learned of the sudden passing of our dear colleague

Johan van Rekom

Assistant Professor of Marketing Research at our Department of Marketing Management. He passed away last weekend at the age of 51.

Johan has been with RSM for almost 25 years. He started at RSM as a PhD student and wrote his thesis on the topic of Corporate Identity. After he received his PhD degree he studied topics like the effects of organisational identity on the motivation of organisation members and the essence of brands. He strongly believed in his interdisciplinary approach and his unwillingness to compromise on his core academic values deserves great respect.

Johan taught the introductory marketing research courses in our bachelor programmes for many years and successfully supervised a large number of students with their Master thesis. Johan was extremely dedicated to his students and took their interest to heart in his very special way. Several of his students received thesis awards, which testifies to his enormous dedication and drive to get the best out of his students. In his current roles as thesis co-ordinator of our Master Marketing Management and as a member of the RSM Examination Board he showed the same attitude and tireless effort.

We will remember Johan as a kind, giving and scientifically driven colleague with broad and deep interests and a nice sense of humour. Johan always amazed us with his knowledge of many languages —ranging from Norwegian to Italian and from Portuguese to Czech—and his deep insights into even the weirdest historical events. His phenomenal memory served him well in his work as a professional tour guide in his spare time and it was always true fun to have him lead us at our departmental outings sharing his unparalleled knowledge. In his own way he was able to make us look in a different way at places many of us had been visiting for many years without noticing the very special details he was aware of. He loved hiking, and spent many of his holidays in the Alps, where he found the open views and rarefied air at the top all the more attractive because of the challenge of getting there.

Johan was a generous and humble person. He will be dearly missed by us all.
Our thoughts are with his mother, brother and other relatives and friends.

The funeral will be held on Friday January 30 from 11am onwards at Monuta Soek, Hoogmadeseweg 66, 2351 CV Leiderdorp.

With kind regards and fond memories of Johan

Steef van de Velde, Dean RSM
Ale Smidts, Chair Department of Marketing Management RSM