About me

Besides having a passion for research and education, from the start of my academic career I have enjoyed helping, advising, coaching, and mentoring colleagues and students. As a PhD student, I realized how valuable it is to interact with fellow PhD students, and to share and discuss ideas, challenges, and difficult situations.


Later, as a tenure-tracker, I experienced the challenges that come with such a position: pressure to publish and learning how to teach well. But I also learned how to have fun and that working with others and sharing experiences can help. The next step was to start with the supervision of PhD students. Being part of the personal and academic development of young scholars is special and a great responsibility. I am still learning how to be a better supervisor every day.


I also had direct managerial responsibilities at the University of Amsterdam and Tilburg University, adding up to about 10 years of managerial experience. As a department head, I have been responsible for HR management, strategy, and financial matters. As vice-dean research of the school, I have been responsible for the graduate school, for research policies and overall school strategy, and I was part of projects related to improving the HR strategy and academic careers, funding of research activities, etc. I also took various academic leadership courses and recently finished the internationally accredited Coach Foundation program.


Over the years I have realized how much I enjoy working with other academics. At the same time, I have learned that the academic world is sometimes a bit rough and that the road to academic leadership can be bumpy at times. In those moments, it can be valuable to interact with an independent academic peer to share experiences, discuss challenges, and look for solutions. This has led me to start Academic Leader Advice.

A short professional CV


For my full academic CV please go to my academic webpage


Academic employment

  • Professor of finance, Tilburg University, August 2009 - …
  • Professor of finance, University of Amsterdam, October 2007 – July 2009
  • Associate professor of finance, University of Amsterdam, March 2005 – September 2007
  • Assistant professor of finance, University of Amsterdam, March 2001 – March 2005
  • Ph.D. student at CentER, Tilburg University, August 1997 – February 2001
  • Visiting Ph.D. student, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, March 2000 - June 2000


Managerial experience

  • Vice-Dean of Research, Tilburg School of Economics and Management (>300 fte), Tilburg University, September 2018 - August 2021
  • Head of Finance Department, Tilburg University, June 2012 - July 2016
  • Head of Finance Department University of Amsterdam, May 2008 – July 2009
  • Teaching coordinator Finance, University of Amsterdam, January 2007 – July 2009
  • Program director Msc Business Economics – Finance, University of Amsterdam, Sept 2006 – Sept 2008


PhD Thesis Supervision

  • 13 PhD students graduated, currently 5 students under supervision


Training

  • Coach foundation program at BGL partners, September – December 2021 (EQA and NOBCO accredited)
  • Connected Leading program at Tilburg University, 2018
  • Academic Leadership program at Tilburg University, 2010
  • Leadership program at University of Amsterdam, 2008