March 05, 2016 | News

Happy Birthday!

MPIDR Chief Research Coordinator Frans Willekens turns 70 on March 5. The staff at the MPIDR wish him a Happy Birthday!

Frans Willekens is currently head of the research group International Migration and chief research coordinator at the MPIDR. Frans Willekens received his PhD in the field of multiregional demography (supervised by Prof. A. Rogers) from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. From 2003 to 2011, he was director of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), The Hague, and professor of population studies at the University of Groningen.

Frans Willekens is a leading scientist in the field of migration and multistate analysis and was instrumental in popularizing ABM (agent-based modeling) in demography. He also plays a major role in the training of demographers at the European Doctoral School of Demography.

Frans Willekens and his wife came to Rostock three years ago. Before taking up his position at the Institute, he was already on retirement, but agreed at very short notice to fill in the position of research coordinator for a period of three years. Frans Willekens will retire from his positions at the end of March to live in his home country Belgium.

"Frans is not only an innovative demographic researcher: he is also an experienced, extraordinarily able  research coordinator. He is irreplaceable. The Institute was very fortunate to benefit from his insight and judgment over the past  three years," says MPIDR Foundig Director Jim Vaupel.

"In addition to being a first-rate demographer, Frans is an amazing strategist and a wonderful mentor. It has been a privilege to learn from him," says MPIDR Executive Director Mikko Myrskylä.