Hans Haans: ‘When I bought a calendar, my structured life began’

As of March, the University Council has a new chair, Hans Haans. We already know him as associate dean of the School of Economics and former University Council member on behalf of the Party Independents. What many did not know: he was a two-week Marine and used to not do calendars.

1. What did you want to be as a child?

‘I wanted to be a zookeeper at the zoo. I love animals. I also went to a biology school. That was a junior secondary vocational school with chickens, goats, geese, rats, and mice. We had everything, but no large livestock. You were able to focus on botany and zoology there, but eventually, I went in the direction of business administration.’

2. What are you most proud of?

‘Personally, I am most proud of the fact that I started at the junior secondary vocational school and then moved on and eventually got a PhD. Actually, I am a mega educational climber, the nightmare of Jo Ritzen (former education minister, ed.). I think few people can imagine how much inner pride I have in having achieved that.’

3. What makes you lose sleep at night?

‘In general, I sleep very well. If I put my head on my pillow, I can’t even count to three. On the other hand, if something worries me, I wake up very early, at five o’clock. That can be about family or children, never work-related.’

4. What is a perfect night out for you?

‘I’m not a someone who likes going out. My night out is eating out and seeing a movie with my wife or going out with my buddies for a game of rikken. As long as I’m in bed on time, I’m not an evening person. At half past ten, then I’m out. I’m not a pub person either. I already had that before, noise, crowds, alcohol, I’m not into that.’

5. What music can’t you get enough of?

‘Of a lot of music, as long as it’s not house. I’m a real music fiend. My first really big purchase was a Kenwood stereo; I still have it. I have a very broad taste. On October 23, I’m going to see Nothing But Thieves, who I just love, everything you listen to from them is good. I’m curious about the concert, I hope it doesn’t disappoint me.

‘I always have music on. When I’m cycling, when I’m at work. At home, I have Sonos speakers. Also in the bathroom, I turn on great, loud music there when I’m showering.’

6. You have an unexpected afternoon off; how do you spend your time?

‘Very easy, then I take my bike out of the garage and go for a ride. That’s a racing bike, not my commuting bike. And in the winter, I make it a relaxing day. Do nothing, put on music and chill.’

‘I served in the Marines. But after two weeks of kicking and punching, I found that wasn’t my thing after all’

7. What do few people know about you?

‘That in my service I spent a short spell in the Marine Corps. After two weeks, I received an honorable discharge. Actually I didn’t want to serve, but if I had to, I wanted to be active. Not just do nothing for fourteen months. That’s how I ended up in the Marines. But even during basic training, after two weeks of kicking and punching, I found that that wasn’t my thing after all.

‘I then had to go for an interview in Amsterdam, and because I didn’t want to go on boats, they couldn’t place me anywhere. Nor were they allowed to transfer me from the Navy to the Army or Air Force. So I was sent home. That worked out well. On Wednesday, I came home and on Monday I started studying at the school for higher education in economics and management (HEAO). I did get a brown envelope in the mail later with an invitation to join the former Marines. I didn’t think of joining.’

8. Best criticism you’ve ever had?

‘That was from students. They thought I had added questions to the evaluation forms myself. There was a question: is the lecturer enthusiastic. There I scored 4.9 on a scale of 5. They thought I had added that question myself to make myself look good.’

9. What makes you angry?

‘Several things. My children, if I’m very honest, sometimes I have to count to ten. I can’t stand bad service personnel. I play snooker, and at the business I frequent, new people have been hired who are not service-oriented. That can make me very irritable. Something like that doesn’t matter in a factory, but it does when you have to deal with customers. But usually I manage to control myself reasonably well.

‘And the traffic. I live in Gemonde. I used to drive those 30 kilometers by car. But now I cycle to the University every day, with a speed pedelec. People who drive slowly on the bike lane and block everything, for example, schoolchildren riding in threesomes next to each other, I can’t stand that either.’

10. They sometimes say you learn the most from your mistakes. What is your best misstep?

‘I used to do everything by heart. I had no agenda, but remembered when I had a meeting or lecture. That was fine for a long time, until one time a meeting was rescheduled for an earlier time. It was an important meeting, and I wasn’t there. My boss was not happy about it. The next day I bought a calendar. I was always quite chaotic, and that was the beginning of my structured life. You have to get to know your weaknesses in order to work on them.’

11. What should you be doing (more)?

‘Cycling on the racing bike. My wife sometimes says the same thing: you just have to cycle more often. I have such a busy life, with work, family, and relatives that it slips through my fingers. I should also spend more time with my wife. We don’t do that enough. Sometimes we go to the sauna and have dinner together. And every time we say: we should do that more often. But that doesn’t happen enough.’

12. Dutch or English?

‘Brabants. My wife always corrects me: I speak too much Brabants. She is not from Brabant. Dutch or English, I personally don’t care. For certain groups it can be annoying. For example in the University Council, English is spoken there nowadays. If someone doesn’t speak English well, this can be a problem. Everyone should feel comfortable taking a seat in the University Council. Language should not be an obstacle there.’

13. Carnival or ski vacation?

‘Neither, both terrible. Carnival isn’t going to be it. I don’t like carnival music and I don’t drink, so it doesn’t make me happy. The Sunday of Carnival we take the kids to Disneyland Paris for four days. And a ski vacation I tried once. Ski lift in, down. Ski lift in, down. Ski lift in, down. That’s really not my thing.’

Translated by Language Center, Riet Bettonviel

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