Willem van Vliet

Who is Willem van Vliet?

Willem van Vliet was educated at a lyceum in the Netherlands, graduating in 1970 with an award from the French embassy for achievements in the field of language and literature. In 1976, he received a doctorandus degree ad summos honores in sociology and planning at the Free University of Amsterdam.

From 1976 through 1979, he was a Fellow of the Department of External Affairs and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, representing the Netherlands in a bilateral exchange. Work at the University of Toronto led to a Ph.D. in sociology in 1980.

He accepted an appointment at the Pennsylvania State University in 1979, moving in 1986 to the University of Colorado where he is a professor in the Program in Environmental Design and director of the Children Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design, with an adjoint appointment in the Department of Geography. From 1991 to 2001, he served as director of the Center for International Research and Education Projects. He also was director of the PhD Program in Design and Planning from 1997 until 2007. The Japan Foundation awarded him a Fellowship in 1992 for a cross-national study of housing and community supports for elders. In 1989 and in 1999, he received the Award for Faculty Excellence in Research, and in 2008 he was given the Award for Faculty Excellence in Service in the College of Architecture and Planning.