Father, distinguished college professor, author

Cornelis A. (“Kees”) de Kluyver, 72, died Monday, March 7, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon after a six-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

Prior to his 2016 retirement he was distinguished professor emeritus and dean at the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon. He also served as a trustee and visiting professor of strategy at the Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. While at the University of Oregon, he championed growth of its Portland programs — the executive MBA and sports management programs – and oversaw the inauguration of its new facilities on Naito Parkway.

He was born in the Netherlands and is survived by his wife Louise; sons Peter and Jonathan; and his sister, Danielle.

Prior to Eugene, he was from 1999 to 2010 dean and Masatoshi Ito Professor of Management at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. From 1991 to 1999 he served as dean and professor of management at the School of Management at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Earlier in his career he was a partner with Cresap Management Consultants, a Towers Perrin Company, and associate with the firm’s strategy and organizational effectiveness practice, from 1986 to 1999. In this position he served a wide range of clients in the high technology and service industries on a range of strategy uses, including the globalization of multinational operations.

He also authored several books, including Global Business Strategies (with John A. Pearce II),  2021; Strategic Management: an Executive Perspective (with John A. Pearce II),  2015; Strategy: a View From The Top (with John A. Pearce II), now in its fourth edition and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese; a Primer On Corporate Governance, now in its second edition, 2013; and Fundamentals of Global Strategy: a Business Model, 2010.

He held a Ph.D. in operations research from Case Western Reserve University, an MBA from the University of Oregon, and undergraduate degrees from the University of Oregon and from Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. He is listed in Cambridge’s Who Who.

He enjoyed working in the yard, woodcarving, and playing his banjo with west coast traditional jazz bands, and loved redesigning backyard spaces. Throughout the years, his sons were delighted with the play structures, tree houses, bridges, gazebos and the carved wooden animals he created.

Since retirement, he became an ardent gardener. He was devoted to his family and loved traveling with them. For the last several years, he enjoyed spending a month in Maui each winter with his wife.

Per his request, no funeral services will be held. Those wishing to honor his life can make a donation in his name to the Eugene Ballet Company at https://eugeneballet.org.

Please access the mortuary obituary (under “recent obituaries”) at https://musgroves.com to sign the guestbook.