Gery van Veldhoven

Van Veldhoven, born in Rijswijk, took his Master's degree in Industrial Psychology at Nijmegen in 1959. Four years later, he obtained his PhD at that university with the thesis Attitudes van meisjes in militaire vrouwenafdelingen (Attitudes of girls in military women's departments). From 1964–1968 he worked at Unilever. As of 1968, he worked at the research bureau SOCMAR: Social and Marketing Research.

In 1972, Van Veldhoven was appointed full professor of economic psychology, in particular the psychology of consumer behavior, at the newly founded sub faculty of Psychology in Tilburg. He is the first professor in this field in The Netherlands. In 1987, he was appointed as chair of the Nationale Ziekenhuisraad (National Hospital Council) for a period of five years. This board position took up half of his time.

As President of the Executive Board, Van Veldhoven explored the possibilities for closer cooperation with the universities in Eindhoven* and Maastricht*, or for a merger with the University of Nijmegen*.

In 1992, as President of the Executive Board, Van Veldhoven gave a speech on the position of Tilburg University. Not all faculties are represented here, but this does not mean that this is a “mutilated” institution, according to Van Veldhoven. Having learned from talks with third parties, he turns the matter on its head. "With what we have, we are in fact a specialized university: specialized in the social sciences and humanities.

In 1995, the year of his retirement, Van Veldhoven was appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. In 2017, he donated his gown*, originally the property of his family member P.P. van Berkum*, who was Rector Magnificus twice in the 1940s and 1950s, to the university.