Fons van de Vijver

We would like to convey our deepest sympathies towards the family of Fons Van de Vijver. He made a very important contribution to the development of the UNICEF and World Bank Life Skills and Citizenship Education instrument for the Middle East and North Africa. His work will continue to live on through the future use of this instrument and through the children's lives who are improved by changes in education opportunities, resulting from the application of this assessment.

The world has lost a great scholar indeed. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have met him. Thank you for the learnings and RIP, Prof Fons.

I was one of his last PhD students. Thanks to his always able support, motivation, and positive input, I had the most enriching experience even from a distance at times. One would feel more than welcome in Tilburg and the university, almost like a home, with his warm welcome and big smile. It was always a privilege to have Turkish coffee together and continue having discussions over a cup of coffee. As has been shared by everyone who knew him, he was an extraordinary scholar, personality and world citizen with great enthusiasm and sincerity who set a great example by all means. I will always remember and cherish his scholarly approach, integrity, accessibility, sincerity, and humble character. It was an honor to be under his supervision and he will be missed greatly. Fons, you were a great inspiration and example and will always be part of what I study/produce in the future. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, family, colleagues, and friends.

It is never easy to lose a loved one. My desire is that you find consolation in the promise of God found in Revelation 21: 3-4 that says that soon, "He, will cleanse all tears from our eyes, and death will no longer be, nor will there be more mourning or outcry or pain." We will see all of our loved ones when they are resurrected in a beautiful paradise here on earth, my deepest sympathy to the family.

Dear Lona, family and Friends. I would like to express and share my deepest condolences. I met Fons in 2012 during the conference to honor Prof. Ronald Hambleton. We had breakfast together and talked about our interests. Looking back I realize how fortunate I was. Fons is one of the great persons I have ever met. No doubt he make me a better researcher, professor and, I want to believe, a better person. We have collaborated in different researcher projects. In all of them, I took from Fons not just methodological lessons but mainly the humility, permanent availability, and wisdom. I’ll try to honor him in my daily personal professional life.

Dear Lona, family, and friends. I would like to express my deepest condolences and sympathy in these sad moments. I am out of words but would like to send all the strength we learned from him. He was undoubtly an excellent academic, but much better person and role model in life. He will be remembered while we live.

My deepest condolences to Lona, family, friends, colleagues and students. We mourn the life of a beautiful soul and celebrate what he brought to this world and what we each gained from having him in our lives.

Dear Lona and family, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to you. Fons was my mentor in science, and he was the most involved, knowledgeable, and energetic supervisor a PhD student could ask for.