Cornelis A. ‘Kees’ from Kluyver

Cornelis A. ‘Kees’ de Kluyver ’70, MBA ’71, former dean of the Lundquist School of Business, died Monday, March 7 after a six-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

Case served as Dean of the College from 2010 to 2015 and was herself a graduate of the University of Oregon, earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the college through an innovative exchange program in the 1960s and 1970s between the University of Oregon and Nienrod Business University in the Netherlands.

Case pursued his master’s and doctoral studies in operations research at Case Western University, then began his illustrious career in academia and management consulting for more than 40 years.

Before returning to Oregon in 2010, he was Dean of the School of Management at George Mason University and Dean of Peter F. Drucker College and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He has also held faculty positions at the University of Virginia, Purdue University and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Earlier in his career, he worked for Cresap Management Consultants, Towers Perrin, advising multinational clients such as Hewlett-Packard, Rockwell Collins, AT&T, Dow Corning, Allied Corp and more.

He has also written several books, including: Global Business Strategies (Collaboration with John A. Pearce II, Business Expert Press, BEP, 2021); Strategic management: an operational perspective (with John A. Pearce II, BEP, 2015); Strategy: View from above (with John A. Pearce II, Prentice-Hall, now in its fourth edition and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese); An introductory book to corporate governance(BEP, 2013, in its second edition); And the Fundamentals of Global Strategy: A Business Model Approach (BEP, 2010).

When he returned to head the Lundquist School of Business, he oversaw one of the busiest periods in its history. During his tenure, two wings of Lillis Business Park (Anstett Hall and Chiles Hall) were completely refurbished and modernized, the Business Research Institute opened, the college launched the first Master of Science in Management program sports products in Portland and took sole oversight of the Executive MBA program The Portland-based Oregonian (formerly a joint venture of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University) began construction of the 109 NW Naito facility, which will house the University’s headquarters in Portland. Several other programs and initiatives have also been launched, including a student-run consulting firm (Oregon Consulting Group) and a partnership with UO Housing to create the first commercial residential community on campus.

Kiss enjoyed working in the garden, carving wood and playing banjo with traditional West Coast jazz bands. He liked to grow backyards. Over the years, his sons have raved about the play structures, treehouses, bridges, gazebos and carved animals he has made.

Since retiring, he has become an avid gardener. He was loyal to his family and enjoyed traveling with them. For the past few years, he has happily spent a month on Maui each winter with his wife Louise.

Kees really had a big impact on college and university. He had a big heart, a big smile – and great braces. He will be missed, but his legacy will live on.

He is survived by his wife Louise, his sons Peter and Jonathan and his sister Danielle. There will be no funeral service at his request. Those wishing to honor his life may donate his name to Eugene’s Ballet Company†