Willem Albert Wagenaar

Willem Albert Wagenaar

Willem Albert Wagenaar (born June 30, 1941 in Utrecht , † April 27, 2011 in Zeist ) was a Dutch forensic psychologist.

Life

Willem Albert was the son of doctor Johan Willem Wagenaar (born July 3, 1911 in Utrecht; † August 5, 2003 in Doorn) and his wife Johanna Elisabeth Hijmans van den Berg (born January 9, 1912 in Groningen; † February 14, 1991 in Amersfoort). In 1953 he attended the municipal grammar school in Utrecht, began studying medicine at the University of Utrecht in 1960 and in 1963 became the assistant to Johannes Linschoten (1925–1964). On April 1, 1965 he became an employee at the Institute for Sensory Physiology (Zintuigfysiologie) TNO in Soesterberg and received his doctorate in 1972 at the University of Leiden under Johan Petrus van de Geer (1926-2008) with the thesis Sequential response bias . In 1973 he also received a visiting professorship at Pennsylvania State University through the Fulbright program and in 1974 became head of the psychology department at the Institute for Sensory Physiology in Soestberg.

During that time he made himself known primarily through literature. In 1982 he received an extraordinary professor of experimental psychology at the University of Leiden and in 1985 he became a full professor of legal psychology. As such, he created forensic psychology analyzes. For example at the war crimes trial of John Demjanjuk and later in the Dutch incest case of Jolanda van Baak von Epe. For the educational institution, he also participated in the organizational tasks of the university. From 1987 to 1989 he was dean of the social faculty and from 1997 to 2001 rector of the alma mater . As such, he appointed, among others, Nelson Mandela and the Japanese Emperor Akihito as honorary doctors of the Leiden University.

In 2003 Wagenaar became dean of the Utrecht University College and in 2004 he received a special professorship in forensic psychology at the University of Utrecht until he retired in 2006. He then worked for the Dutch Institute for Future-Oriented Studies in Human and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Wassenaar . In 1991 Wagenaar became a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences , became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion in 2001 and was awarded the Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure as Grand Officer. Wagenaar spent the last years of his life in Zeist, where he died of an illness.

Wagenaar married in 1964 with the ophthalmologist's daughter Margreet M. Fischer. The children are known to include Pieter Wagenaar, Joost Wagenaar, Elisabeth Wagenaar and Barbara Wagenaar.

Works (selection)

• Sequential response bias: a study on choice and chance. Leiden 1972
• The best stuurlui dempen de put: hoe mensen beslissen toegelicht aan de hand van Nederlandse spreekwoorden. Baam 1977
• Proeven op de som: psychonomie in het dagelijks leven. Deventer 1978
• Menselijk falen. Leiden 1983
• Oorzaken en achtergronden van foutieve geweldsaanwendingen door de politie. Leiden 1986
• Beslissen en risk-acceptatie aan boord van schepen: risky dared op zee? Leiden 1987
• Verkeersveiligheid. Leiden 1987
• Paradoxes of gambling behavior. Hove, 1988
• Identifying Ivan: a case study in legal psychology. New York 1988
• Herkennen van Iwan: de identificatie van de dader door ooggetuigen van een misdrijf. Amsterdam 1989
• Dubieuze zaken: de psychologie van strafrechtelijk bewijs. Amsterdam 1992, 1994, 2005
• De diagnostic waarde van bewijsmiddelen. Amsterdam 1995
• Het afsluiten van de brug in relatie tot de verkeersveiligheid: Is zicht op het naderend wegverkeer noodzakelijk? Leiden 1995
• Het houden van een presentatie. Rotterdam 1996
• Meerwaarde van direct does not have to be used in public transport systems. Leiden 1996
• The African Studies Center and the Studies of Africa. Leiden 1998
• Aan both zijden van de bijl. Haarlem 1998
• In the service of van de toekomst. Leiden 2000
• A selectie van Leidse toetsen. Leiden 2000
• The popular policeman and other cases: psychological perspectives on legal evidence. Amsterdam 2005 (with HFM Crombag)
• Vincent plast op de grond: night merries in het Nederlandsrecht. Amsterdam 2006
• Broddelwerk: over geklungel in het strafrechtelijk onderzoek. Amsterdam 2010

literature

• Andries Sanders: Willem Albert Wagenaar (June 30, 1941 - April 27, 2011). In: Levens reports en herdenkingen. Amsterdam, 2012 ( online )
• HFM Crombag: Willem Albert Wagenarr (Utrecht 30 June 1941 - Utrecht 27 April 2011). In: Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, 2012. Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, Leiden, 2013, pp. 149–156 ( online )

Web links

• Wagenaar in the professorial catalog of the University of Leiden
• Wagenaar in the Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae
• Wagenaar entry at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences