On January 24, 2024, Professor Emeritus Herman Koene van Dijk passed away at the age of 79. Herman van Dijk was a Professor Emeritus at the Econometric Institute of Erasmus School of Economics. He was known for his contributions in the field of Bayesian econometrics.
Van Dijk started in 1972 his academic career at the Econometric Institute in 1972, where he was appointed Professor of Econometrics in 1993. From 1992 to 1998 and from 2008 to 2010 he was Director of the Tinbergen Institute. From 1998 to 2003 he was Director of the Econometric Institute. His research interests were in the field of Bayesian inference using simulation techniques, time series econometrics, neural networks, and income distributions.
During his career Professor Van Dijk received numerous prizes for being one of the most influential Bayesians amongst econometricians. He received amongst others the Savage Prize for his doctoral dissertation and the 2022 Zellner Medal as an oeuvre award. Van Dijk felt very honoured to win the Zellner Medal, not in the least because he had known and worked with Arnold Zellner. In 2017, Van Dijk was knighted in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands for his outstanding contributions to the study of Bayesian econometrics and his efforts to maintain the worldwide reputation of Dutch econometricians through his fundamental research and through directing and stimulating research of his students.
