Fekkers brief timeline
Between 1967 and 1974, Fekkers studies Applied Mathematics and Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Twente (THT), the predecessor of the UT. After his studies, he first works as head of the Planning Office and later as Director of Finance. At the end of the 80s he leaves for the University of Maastricht.
As a student of applied mathematics, Fekkers is one of the earliest groups of students at what is then the Technical University of Twente (THT) in 1967. It is the turbulent 1960s of the twentieth century, in which young people throughout the Netherlands regularly rebel against established order and decency standards.
Fekkers is quite the activist, too. A strike is on the table on even the lightest of grounds: 'We thought the food in the canteen was tasteless. So we organised a strike,' he said four years ago in an interview with U-Today. But his activism isn’t restricted to local issues. When a student protest breaks out in Paris in 1968, he hops in a car to show his support in the French capital. Protests also break out in the Netherlands. The Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg, among others, is occupied by students. Here too, Fekkers climbs the barricades.
Activist streak
In 1970, the Student Trade Union Movement occupies the board pavilion of the THT, in solidarity with the protests in Tilburg and the occupation of the Maagdenhuis in Amsterdam. Of course, Fekkers is among them. The students demand a bigger say in the ins and outs of colleges and universities. It has an effect: the Dutch government approves the University Governance Reform Act (WUB. From then on, like all higher education institutions, the THT will have an Executive Board and a University Council in which all parts of the institute are represented. 'We wanted different education, more freedom of choice, more trust, and more control over where the money went,' he said in the same interview.
Fekkers continues to have an activist streak throughout his life. The current generation of students should protest much more, he thinks. Not just about participation, but about the larger issues of our time, such as the distribution of wealth, combating fake news, and the implementation of the circular economy.
Urban reformer
After his studies, Fekkers stays in Enschede. As a devoted socialist PvdA member, he is concerned about the fate of workers. As the town’s youngest Finance alderman ever, he helps the city out of the financial hole left by the declining textile industry in 1974. Unemployment is falling, and through smart purchases of abandoned factory buildings, the city remains in control of its own land. It forms the basis for the current favourable climate for activity in services and innovations.
'The entrepreneurial university'
In 1980, he returns to the UT. As Head of the Planning Office, he is co-creator and driving force behind the concept of the UT as 'The Entrepreneurial University'. He is involved in the multi-year planning, and steers the further course of the UT. Three years later, he takes on the position of Director of Finance. Under his lead, the first university holding company and four spin-offs are established. He then moves to Limburg, to join Maastricht University in 1988.
His own entrepreneurship is evident from an impressive list of companies he helps to get started: From Technopolis Holding and Conference and Study Center BV in Enschede to BTG, ECC, UM Holding, Mediaservice, Maastricht Instruments, Datawyse, Nutriscience, RIKS, ETIL, InterUM, BiomedBooster, BioPartner Center Maastricht and Maastricht Forensic Services, among many others.
In addition, he helps many dozens of students on their way with their businesses. He is the creator of the TOP scheme for the UT, Team Venlo (UM and Fontys), Hoogstarters Maastricht (UM and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences) and Gazellen Maastricht (UM and LIOF).
In Maastricht, Fekkers remains committed to science. In 2010, he co-founds the Eugène Dubois Foundation, an association that works to increase recognition of the eponymous scientist from Eijsden. In the meantime, he is committed to green nuclear energy.
With Fekkers, the UT has lost a highly engaged and entrepreneurial alumnus from the early beginning, who’s decisions still help determine the UT’s strategic course to this day.
