IM Vinus Zachariasse

In Memoriam Prof.dr.ir. Vinus Zachariasse (1942-2024)

After a battle with cancer, EAAE-Fellow Vinus Zachariasse passed away on July 19, 2024. Between 1984 and 1999 Vinus was a member of the EAAE-Board, first as Treasurer, later as Secretary-General.

During his long and outstanding career Vinus Zachariasse has contributed continuously and in a very relevant way to the advancement of agricultural economics in Europe. Vinus Zachariasse started his academic career with his path breaking, cum laude, PhD research on differences in farm performance and management. Economists that examine differences in farm performance often have to deal with data from heterogeneous farms. Vinus studied 29 arable farms in a setting that nowadays would be described as a natural experiment: a new reclaimed polder where these farms all began to operate in the same year, on the same type of soil, with the same farm size, all in the same rectangular shape and with the same configuration of farm buildings. Large difference in income were observed and were analysed with the relatively new method of factor analysis.

Vinus Zachariasse joined the Agricultural Economic Research Institute LEI (now: Wageningen Economic Research) and became quickly involved in its management. In 1990 he became director. He promoted new topics of research like economics of management information systems, the food chain, consumer research and collaboration in large econometric model consortia. He supported many young staff members to obtain a PhD. Under his leadership the institute developed from an input financed state agency into an output-financed research institute as part of Wageningen University and Research. In that setting he became director of its Social Sciences Group. For a long time, he had a part-time professorship in business economics.

As member of the Executive Committee of the EAAE (as the Board was known at that time) he organised the 1990 congress in The Hague. Together with other Board members the EAAE’s very successful program of EAAE seminars was set up, which helped to create many collaborations in the research community. After his period in the Board, Vinus took the initiative to set up a network of directors of research institutes for agricultural economics, called AERIAS and more informally ‘the global club’.

Vinus Zachariasse was not only endowed with the EAAE-Fellowship but also with the Theodor-Brinkmann-Preis from the University of Bonn. He was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Vinus was thankful for what life has brought him. We are thankful for his service to the profession and society.