by Tom van Veen and Annemieke Klijn

Willem Albeda (1925-2014) came to Maastricht in 1982, his assignment being to set up as founding dean the Faculty of Economics, today called School of Business and Economics. By hiring Albeda, the State University Limburg managed to bring in a big name with an extensive network, nationally as well as internationally. Doubtlessly it was largely owing to Albeda that the university in Maastricht acquired sufficient (political) support for launching an academic curriculum in economics in September 1984. This programme had to develop an identity of its own by distinguishing itself from the ‘fossilized curricula’ elsewhere, as Albeda strategically claimed. He argued for breaking the boundaries between business economics and general economics. Furthermore, a good economist, in his view, should always pay attention to the broader societal context. Stimulating regional economic development in Limburg was a highly important concern, particularly given the economic stagnation of the 1980s.

Albeda was born in Rotterdam in 1925. He grew up in a Protestant, socially involved family, and attended high school at the basic level (ULO), followed by the advanced level (HBS). In 1943, during the German occupation, he was rounded up to be sent to a camp for forced labour in Oberhausen. Shortly after Liberation he contracted osteomyelitis in his skull, which left a scar on his forehead. He studied economics in Rotterdam and earned a PhD from the Free University, Amsterdam. Prior to his appointment at Maastricht University, he held various positions. For example, he served as professor in social-economic policy at the Rotterdam School of Economics, as international secretary of the CNV, the Protestant labour union, and as minister of Social Affairs in the Van Agt I Cabinet (1977-1981). Politically, Albeda was a left-leaning member of the ARP, a Protestant party which in 1980 merged into the CDA (Christian-Democratic Appeal).

One of the early staff members of the Faculty of Economics, Tom van Veen (1953), who later served as Dean of Internationalisation at Maastricht, retains happy memories of Wil Albeda. In his view, Albeda was politically ‘tried and tested, and he knew well how to achieve his goals. As former government minister he had easy access to the regional political and business communities.’ Moreover, according to Van Veen, his expertise agreed well with the faculty’s main research themes formulated at the time, which centred on labour, technology and government activity. As a professor, Albeda was a ‘traditional, broadly trained economist of the kind that unfortunately is growing scarce. His largest accomplishment was that he managed to find a solid base for the economics faculty, both within and outside of the university. At the time, the new economics faculty at Maastricht was looked down upon by some. The faculty had to win a place for itself, not just from a national angle but also within the university. In this respect, Albeda has done an excellent job in Maastricht, as well as nationally and internationally. To Wil the world had been an international world all along, and the faculty greatly benefitted from his international network. He knew the world and, more importantly, the world knew him. When he put you into contact with someone, this always led to something more. He was well respected within his network. He was also an initiator and a big proponent of the internationalisation strategy developed by the faculty in the late 1980s.’

Because of his ‘huge network’ Albeda was a ‘quite valuable asset’, as Joan Muysken (1948), who in 1984 became the first chair in general economics, testified as well. For example, Albeda was one of the founders of the Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), which later merged with the Maastricht branch of United Nations University (UNU). He also helped to establish the Research Centre for Education and Job Market (ROA). His good contacts within the Dutch Ministry of Education and Sciences came in handy at the time. In the words of Van Veen, Albeda was ‘humoristic, smart, relaxed and open in his interactions’, adding that ‘it might take some time, however, before you discovered these qualities, for Albeda continued to be a man from Friesland. Some felt him to be surly in interactions and had trouble to get through to him, but this was rather due to his timidity, despite all his experience, not a matter of his lacking a warm personality. His Frisian roots also revealed themselves in his resolve to get things done. He was capable of realizing his goals in a rather amiable manner.’

From the late 1980s onwards Albeda’s professional attention shifted back in part to the central part of the country, after he became chair of the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) at The Hague and he began to combine his professorship at Maastricht with a rotating chair at the University of Utrecht. At the same time he increasingly  felt at home in Maastricht, which is why he decided to continue to live there until his death on May 6, 2014.

see also a video about the history of the Faculty of Economy