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Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the student body Nieuwe Compagnie van Verre (NCV), the alumni association Voortgezette Compagnie van Verre (VCV) and the Board of the Nyenrode Foundation are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Albert Heijn.
 Albert Heijn was a member of the second class of students following the beginning of the University in 1946. He studied business economics at the ''Nederlandsch Opleidings Instituut voor den Buitenlandschen Dienst (NOIB)", or the Dutch Educational Institution for Foreign Service, as Nyenrode was then called. Throughout his life, Dr. Heijn had close ties with Nyenrode Business Universiteit. From 1968 he was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Nyenrode Foundation and in 1992 he was conferred with the title of honorary doctor for his numerous achievements for, and his involvement with, the university. In the same year he became Honorary Chairman of the Nyenrode Foundation. He was also an honorary member of alumni association Voortgezette Compagnie van Verre. In 2001, the new facilities at Nyenrode Business Universiteit – financed by and named after Albert Heijn – were officially opened.
Read the press communiqué
Albert Heijn, the Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Nyenrode Foundation died at the age of 83. Our thoughts are with his wife Monique and his family.
 Albert Heijn was a Nyenrodian at heart and probably the greatest of us all. He was a student of the second class of 1947, and always stayed close to Nyenrode. Often physically, always mentally. He understood entrepreneurship and knew how to build an international company. He also knew that the client should be at the heart of every business strategic plan and its execution.
The highlight of my MBA at Nyenrode in 1987 was the AHOLD week, in which Albert, his brother Gerrit-Jan and the full managing board of AHOLD participated and spent quality time with us in the class room. We challenged their strategies and experienced top management in action.
Albert Heijn understood the concept of giving back much better than most. As mentioned, in terms of time but also financially. Albert Heijn generously supported Nyenrode financially throughout the years. Therefore, I am glad that the building that he donated proudly carries his name.
Whenever I enter the executive offices of the university, I look at the picture of Ab and Monique on the left of the door. I will continue to do so in memory of this great man.
Piero Overmars
Chairman of the Nyenrode Foundation
President
Albert Heijn (Ab) studied at Nyenrode from 1947 until 1949. In some respect, he had a special position. Because he suffered from polio in his youth, he was the only student who could not participate in the extensive sports program and he could spend more time studying the NOIB program than anyone else. He sadly had to miss out on the fraternizing effect of team sports. However, because of his gentle and open character, he was fully regarded as one of our group.
Ab's education at Nyenrode gave him a solid base for becoming a great entrepreneur and he really valued his time there. His brother Gerrit-Jan, who was tragically murdered in 1987, also studied at Nyenrode, from 1948 until 1950. In later days, the mutual contacts between Albert Heijn and Nyenrode remained close. He became Honorary Chairman of Nyenrode's Supervisory Board, donated the Albert Heijn building to the university and was conferred with the title of honorary doctor in 1992.
Albert Heijn's merits for his company and the entire food industry are enormous. Just like his co-students he felt a pioneer rebuilding the Dutch economy after a devastating war and the loss of the Dutch East Indies. Because of his outspoken customer and future oriented attitude he met with some resistance, but found the way to the top open after the implementation of the selfservice concept proved to be a success.
Albert closely looked at foreign developments in the industry, with a focus on what could be interesting for the Dutch market. Some groundbreaking examples of changes he implemented were, beside the selfservice model mentioned above, assortment extension with other products from within or out of the sector, saving stamps, shopping carts and shopping baskets, AC restaurants and most of all the supermarket. Not everything he introduced was new, but it was new within the context of the Dutch food industry.
First of all, all new developments were to be implemented within Heijn's own company and in later years within its stores abroad, but they also found their way to the entire Dutch food industry. Because of that, Albert Heijn is regarded to be the instigator of the Dutch supermarket. In 1989, Ab Heijn stepped down as highest manager in the company but stayed on as a member of the supervisory board until 1997. His heritage can be found close to the Zaandam headquarters: a woman dragging with bags of groceries accompanied by the text "so we do not forget who we work for".
J.F.A. (Lex) Entrop, Year Representative 1947-1949
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