Former Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board Gerardus W.J.M. van Wissen has passed away
Created by Zihni Erençin, Managing Director |It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our long-standing Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board
Gerardus W.J.M. van Wissen
who passed away on 11 October 2024 at the age of 83.
As a young irrigation engineer, Mr van Wissen came from the Netherlands to what was then Agrar- und Hydrotechnik GmbH in Essen in 1970. His first professional assignments took him to Africa and South America, where he familiarized himself with the international consulting business. Back in Essen, he initially became technical manager at the end of the 1970s and took over as managing director in 1984. Under his aegis, the company expanded through start-ups and strategic investments.
From 1990, Mr van Wissen was one of the first Western European entrepreneurs to carry out pioneering work in Russian agriculture. He initially promoted the modernization of potato cultivation and coordinated the deliveries of German agricultural machinery manufacturers to Russia. Later, other crops such as maize, wheat, barley, rapeseed and soya were added. He founded numerous companies there, with which he was very successful. He even bought and renovated a hotel.
In view of the changing international consulting business in the mid-1990s, Mr van Wissen restructured the AHT Group and became Chairman and main shareholder of the newly created holding company AHT GROUP AG in 1994. When AHT was taken over by RAG-Stiftung Beteiligungsgesellschaft in 2017 and later became part of the Dorsch Group, Mr van Wissen nevertheless remained closely associated with the company and enjoyed visiting ‘his’ AHT in person, where he still maintained an office.
In Gerardus van Wissen, we are losing a visionary entrepreneur whose tireless commitment had a lasting impact on AHT and the holding company. We owe him a great deal. His vision, drive and achievements earned him the respect and appreciation of the management and all employees.
We will always remember him and his life's work with honour.
Zihni Erençin, Managing Director
