2005: UM Alumni in New York City! See page 12!

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Professor of real estate Piet EichholtzText: Jos CortenraadPhotography: Franco Gori"The UM will also break new ground with funPiet Eichholtz, 41 years of age, is regarded as an international expert inthe field of real estate. A jack-of-all-trades with two professorships, variouscommercial advisory positions and an impressive list of publications.A man who is also willing to go to Cyprus for a month without being paid,in order to contribute to a possible reconciliation between the Greek andTurkish populations there. And a man who values the quality of life.Hence his love for his family and Maastricht.continuUM year 3, issue 3, october 200418"In Amsterdam, the poulterer sells chicken on themarket. Chicken with curry spices, marinatedchicken, chicken wings, filets of chicken, grilledchicken and more chicken. On the market inMaastricht, the poulterer sells quail, turkey, pheasant,duck and, yes, also chicken. That is the differencebetween the West of the Netherlands and SouthLimburg. Life here is richer, less Calvinistic. At thesame time, all of us here have built up a universitythat is number one on all fronts. I have worked herefor seventeen years, and as far as I know, I could behere for another seventeen."That much is clear: Piet Eichholtz is happy inMaastricht, where he lives and works half time as aprofessor of real estate financing at the faculty ofEconomics. A position that he combines with aone-day professorship in Amsterdam and a handfulof advisory positions for organisations such as theKLM Pension funds, Aedex, Bouwfonds, RO-groep,Servatius and the real estate division for theBrenninkmeijer family.Having breakfast togetherOriginally from Bloemendaal, he still spends manyhours in and around Amsterdam. "Yes, and thattakes up a lot of time. So much, in fact, that in2000 we moved to Haarlem. But that was so disappointing.My natural habitat is in Maastricht; that ishow it feels. It is so very crowded in the West of thecountry. You lose a lot of time trying to get from Ato B. Valuable time that is taken from your privatelife. Having breakfast together, having the eveningmeal together; all these things are simply impossible.So we came back and now we have breakfasttogether at least three times during the week, and itis about the same for dinner. My wife, an artist byprofession, feels the same way. We have three children,ages varying from four to nine. Our family isworth a lot to us." Piet Eichholtz is one of thoseyoung professors of whom the UM has relativelymany on its payroll. Professors who are open toinnovation and do not get stuck in establishedstructures and positions of power. "A universitymust be a sanctuary for ideas. Science must becritical. If someone claims something, then theremust always be someone else who wonders if thatis true. I miss that sometimes in the older, moreestablished universities. What the grey establishedorder has not thought up itself, cannot be good.That rule applies everywhere, not just in theNetherlands. Harvard, Yale: they all suffer from thenot-invented-here syndrome. Don’t get me wrong,I am not going to attack Amsterdam, Rotterdam orany other place. But the UM is not number one fornothing in all comparative surveys. The bestresults, the best organisation, the best graduates."Team spirit"How is that possible? We are not even a quarter ofa century old and the average age of the employeesis low. That plays a role and of course it also has todo with the outsider role. We on the peripheryagainst the rest in the big city. This creates teamspirit, a willingness to fight. The UM has had toprove itself more than the rest, and this is still thecase. We have been criticised because of theproblem-based learning system, when we started torecruit students with advertisements, and when weintroduced English as the official language at theEconomics faculty. By now we have been imitatedin everything. Students at the Faculty of Economicsmust spend a period of time abroad. This is alsoregarded as a little odd. But look, the UM is themost international university in the Netherlands,
draising!"it attracts students from all over the world. Lastyear, only forty percent of my students was Dutchspeaking(this percentage does not apply to all faculties,ed.). You have to sell yourself as a university.It is after all about attracting students." The figuresspeak for themselves, and yet the UM still has no"royal warrant" to supply expertise for TV programmessuch as NOVA and Buitenhof, or to be inthe serious newspapers and magazines. "Well," saysPiet Eichholtz a little irritated, "the national press isconcentrated in and therefore focussed on the Westof this country. It is much easier to bring in a professorfrom the University of Amsterdam than toget someone from Maastricht. And it takes a fewdecades before you lose the image of insignificance.The UM is still somewhat of an outsider. But thatalso has its advantages: you work harder, achieveeven better results. The time will come when theycan no longer ignore you."CoincidenceEichholtz himself is not someone who is ignored.The real estate sector knows where to find him forcomments and analyses. He writes various columnsand appears in the press with great regularity tocomment on developments on the housing marketand the market for commercial real estate. He nodsmodestly, "and believe it or not, it is all coincidence.I could just as easily have gone in a different direction.I could just as easily have ended up in a differentcity. I do not plan much in my life and if youask me now what my ambitions are, I would not beable to tell you. Yes, to be a better professor and domore research." Piet Eichholtz was born inBloemendaal at the end of 1963 and grew up inHaarlem. He studied economics at the Universityof Amsterdam. "After that, I had to do alternativenational service as a conscientious objector. I got atip to go to Maastricht and talk to a professor whowas looking for an assistant. I only knew Maastrichtfrom a few short visits. I walked along the city wall,drank some coffee on the Onze Lieve Vrouwensquare and I thought to myself: I am going to be allright here. I got on well with the professor and soI moved here. After a while, an American professorcame here to lecture for a year and that gave me theidea of researching for a Ph.D. ‘Real estate’ he said,‘is still uncharted territory’. I knew nothing about it,but it did interest me. One thing led to another andthat is how I became an international expert in realestate. Coincidence, if you ask me."Professional cyclistThings could easily have turned in the direction ofprofessional cycling. Piet Eichholtz was and is a passionatecyclist. "I took part in amateur races," hesays on the Monday that Lance Armstrong madethe front page as winner of the Tour de France forthe sixth time. "Up-hill cycling, great. That is whatI also like about the South of Limburg, being ableto cycle up those hills. I wouldn’t mind them becomingAlps, but that probably won’t happen. No,I had neither the right lungs and legs nor the rightmentality. At parties, I liked to drink a glass of wineand I was never in bed before midnight. Youcannot win races like that." Piet Eichholtz still likesto drink a glass of wine, preferably in one of themany good restaurants in Maastricht. Calling hima bon vivant would not be fair. Both inside and outsidethe UM, he is known as a hard worker; theABP and the National Investment Bank made useof his services, he set up his own company that hesold to Kempen & Co, he lectured in England andthe US. And when the UN phoned him in May forhis collaboration on the valuation of real estate onCyprus, he was on a plane two days later.Short-sightedPiet Eichholtz is also someone who has his ownunvarnished opinions. For example, he calls thegovernment policy that enables the construction ofmore office buildings and the creation of even moreindustrial estates, despite a decrease in the workingpopulation, "short-sighted". He also produces a‘controversial’ proposition with regard to alumni.Namely: actively ask for money from the alumniwho have ‘made’ it in life. "This is the done thing inthe US. Every respectable university has its ownprofessional fundraisers on the payroll who sell theuniversity’s name. What in God’s name is wrongwith a rich businessman connecting his nameto a library or a chair for lots of money?Of course you must keep setting your own courseand not end up in a dependent position. But it isgreat to receive a few million euros to improve yourproduct. There are enough rich people and captainsof industry who would gladly connect their name tothe university. After all, they have everything else.Except for that little bit of status that they receivewhen a chair, or a library or a building carries theirname."Arrogance"I know, here in the Netherlands people call it begging.Or ‘American affairs’. That is so ridiculous,having a go at ‘American affairs’. The universitiesfind themselves in financial difficulty, governmentis withdrawing. We have got to become more commercial,without, by the way, losing sight of our taskof transferring knowledge. We have to tap into theflow of funds in order to keep studying affordableand the quality high. But we feel it is not chic toapproach our alumni. I call that pure arrogance.The best universities in the world do it, so whoare we to dismiss it? Fortunately, this plays lessof a role in Maastricht. Yes, again on the periphery,the South. Mark my words: the UM will be apioneer again, this time in the field of fundraising.I will myself, at any rate, work hard at that."continuUM year 3, issue 3, october 200419
Page 1 and 2: 2005: UM Alumniin New York City!See
Page 3 and 4: UM News FlashesCo-operation with Un
Page 6 and 7: Two UM alumni about seizing chances
Page 8 and 9: ear 3, issue 3, october 20048c onti
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Page 15 and 16: E-mail from.... OxfordMargriet Groe
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