Rinus Penninx is emeritus professor of Ethnic Studies of the University of Amsterdam. He has been involved in the field of migration and integration in several capacities. His report `Ethnic Minorities’ (1979) formed the starting point for integration policies in the Netherlands. He worked in Dutch Ministries on integration research and policy making (1978-1988). He founded the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies at the University of Amsterdam in 1993. From 1999 to 2009 he was co-chair of the International Metropolis project. He was coordinator of the IMISCOE Network of Excellence (2004-2009) and the IMISCOE Research Network (2009-2014).