Dijkhuizen tops salary list

Once again, executive board chairman Aalt Dijkhuizen came top as the best paid director last year in the Dutch education system. His take-home pay in 2011, including bonuses and allowances, was 346,495 euros, according to the annual list produced by the AOb trade union. René Smit of the VU University Amsterdam came second with 291,900 euros but his salary is being cut. That means the other Wageningen directors, Martin Kropff and Thijs Breukink, will probably get second and third place next year (now they are third and fourth). The new cabinet will reduce the maximum remuneration further to 172,000 euros, but the Wageningen supervisory board does not want to change the existing contracts. The so-called Balkenende norm will apply to new directors.