Royal decoration for Wim Klein Haneveld

On Friday 26 April 2013 Prof. W.K. Klein Haneveld will receive a royal decoration. He will be appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

The Mayor of Tynaarlo, Mr F.A. van Zuilen, will present the decoration to Prof. Klein Haneveld at 9.30 a.m. in the Dorpskerk at Brink 3 in Vries.

Prof. W.K. Klein Haneveld

Prof. W.K. (Wim) Klein Haneveld (Dokkum, 1944) is Professor of Stochastic Programming at the Faculty of Economics and Business. The popularity of the field of stochastic programming (i.e. programming based on probability calculus) is due to the fact that it can be used to solve many practical decision-making problems in engineering and technology, management and economics. Here is an example: how can a telecommunications company roll out a national mobile network that meets quality requirements while keeping costs as low as possible?

Klein Haneveld is the co-founder of the Landelijk Netwerk Mathematische Besliskunde (LNMB), a unique collaborative partnership of all Operations Research groups in the Netherlands. Klein is the co-initiator and the first director of the LNMB; thereafter he was chairman of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for several years. He has played a crucial role in the establishment and functioning of the LNMB.

Klein Haneveld is a scientists of international repute, as can be seen from the fact that, during the 10th International Conference on Stochastic Programming (Tucson AZ, USA) in October 2004, he was acknowledged as one of the twelve pioneers in his field. Klein Haneveld has been frequently invited on working visits abroad to present his new research findings. The University of Groningen has offered courses in stochastic programming for thirty years – the only institution in the world to have such a long tradition of teaching the subject.

Two of Klein Haneveld’s PhD students were fellows of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), which, at the time, provided some 25 grants for up-and-coming talents every year. The fact that two of these prestigious grants were awarded to PhD students of Klein Haneveld is exceptional. Both students are now professors at the University of Groningen. Klein Haneveld is working with one of them to complete his ‘Lecture Notes on Stochastic Programming’, with a view to publishing it as an official textbook. Unofficially, it has been regarded as such for some time: since the first edition in the early 1990s, the Lecture Notes have been sent on request to hundreds of colleagues worldwide. They are mostly used for personal study, but they are also used as lecture notes in countries including the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Germany, the US, South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia. The Lecture Notes came about out of necessity: at the time there were no books on stochastic programming, the subject that Klein Haneveld had been teaching for many years. The combination of mathematical thoroughness and practical focus make this textbook unique, which is why many fellow scholars are keen to see it completed.

Klein Haneveld has been closely involved in research projects relating to the application of stochastic programming to agricultural problems in various African countries. In Burkina Faso, for example, research has been carried out into crop rotation. It is a good example of ‘third-world Operations Research’, because a variety of uncertain factors (e.g. rainfall) play a role in agriculture. Klein Haneveld used techniques in the field of stochastic programming to find the method for making the best use of farmland.

He also had a leading role in the Gasunie research project Technische planning onder onzekerheid (Technical Planning in conditions of uncertainty). The contacts with Gasunie, and recently with Gasterra, raise interesting questions for science and, for the companies involved, greater insight into logistical processes.

As Vice Dean of the Faculty, Klein Haneveld has had an active commitment to developing course units, such as those for the degree programmes in Applied Business Studies and Industrial Engineering & Management. In his role as an administrator he did not necessarily put himself in the foreground, quietly dispensing his wise advice.

His students, student assistants and PhD students speak of him with a great deal of respect, not only because he is a born teacher, but equally because of the fact that he has always taken a personal interest in them. The same can be said with regard to his colleagues in the Netherlands and abroad, with whom he has maintained contact in the context of academic practice and governance. Klein Haneveld is not only an outstanding scientist, he is also a pleasant, modest man.

Wim Klein Haneveld will be appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Note for the press

Further information can be obtained via the Communication Office of the University of Groningen, tel. +31 (0)50363 4444, e-mail: communicatie rug.nl