The Performance of Seaport Clusters - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

Preface vii
The frequent question why I work in a university environment, has never been difficult to
answer, because frankly speaking, I consider our department as rather ‘hip’ (even though I
admit it is not really hip to say so). We have a dynamic group of ‘young dogs’ that create
both a pleasant working environment and some competitive pressure that makes us all
move forward. Thus, I would like to thank Willem (for being my choir companion) Erik (for his
defensive soccer skills), Alexander, Paulus, Paolo, Marco (for his DJ skills), Peter (for being
a pleasant roommate), Peran, (for his unavoidable presence when I was working late –until
his PhD was finished), Ariane (for being a female soccer expert), Didier (for being a Belgian
coping up in the Netherlands), Michiel (for good team work), Larissa (for project
management skills hard to find at universities), Jan-Jaap (for last minute support), and
Guiliano (for being the most ‘ingeburgerde’ Italian ever). I hope the ‘young dogs’ will remain
young for some time to come. In this respect, I think it is fair to say that the director of our
department, prof. Leo van den Berg, sets a very good example.
I cannot resist the temptation of thanking various persons who strictly speaking did not
contribute to this PhD, but whose company I greatly value and who keep me mentally and
physically (reasonably) healthy. So thanks to the 'Ragazzi' (Alex, Berend, Charles, Ed, Eric
en Maurice), Bart, Klaske en Simone, Tim, my soccer teammates and other friends for
‘being there’. Thanks also to Marius, Mieke, Matthijs and Marijn, I hope you are proud, and
thanks Maria, for your love and ‘energy, energy’.
Rotterdam, November 2003