Honorary Members


1st  honorary member Rick Hoeksema & 2nd honorary member Detlef van Vuuren  (1992)

The first Storm general meeting took place on December 12, 1991. Rick Hoeksema, the interim chairman, passed on his chairmanship to Detlef van Vuuren. Detlef van Vuuren is therefore known as the first chairman of Storm. On February 5, 1992 two decisions were made: the committee of environmental scientists would be called Storm and the official founding date of Storm would be December 12, 1991. For their merit during the foundation of Storm, both members received the title of honorary member.


3rd honorary member Edward Stoutenbeek

Edward Stoutenbeek received the title of honorary member for selling a substantial amount of books that were left behind by a professor. With this sale he brought in around 3000 gulden to Storm, an astronomically high amount for a starting association. Furthermore, Edward Stoutenbeek has been a member of the Casco (financial committee) for 20 years giving Storm advice where possible.


4th Loet Clarenburg (1996)

Loet Clarenburg was proclaimed Storm’s patron during the first lustrum. His room, Unnik 11.19, became the first Storm Room. This room was opened only once a week: Wednesdays from 12:00 to 14:00. Quickly after, Storm moved to room 11.11 of the same building. Loet Clarenburg passed away in 2007, and out of respect Storm had no patron for one year. He became an honorary member since a patron also becomes an honorary member at the same time as being appointment as patron.



5th Klaas van Egmond (2010)

Klaas van Egmond is a faculty professor at Utrecht University. He has been Storm’s patron since 2010. Besides his involvement in Storm activities, he invites the Storm Board every year for dinner at his house. He became an honorary member since a patron also becomes an honorary member at the same time as being appointment as patron.


6th Roelant Knauff (2014)

Roelant Knauff earned the title of honorary member in 2014. It was a long time since an honorary member was appointed, but because of his inexhaustible efforts and merits for Storm, Roelant deserved this title. In total, during his seven active years, Roelant did a board year, in which he served as chairman of Storm. He participated in 19 committees, he initiated a new Committee of Recommendation, and a number of other working groups.

7th Ton Schellings (2022)

Ton Schellings has been been the bus driver for our Crossing Borders trip for well over a decade. During this time, he has become an integral part of Storm, not just during the annual study trip, but also with Storm's version of the song l'Amours Toujours. When because of strikes in public transport the 2022 Introduction Weekend (the first one since COVID!) was threatened, Ton came to the rescue with two busses. Because of this and all the years he has been well-loved within Storm, Ton became an honorary member on September 28th 2022.