Harriët Schelhaas new dean ESL

Harriët Schelhaas has been appointed the new dean at Erasmus School of Law (ESL) from 1 January. She says that she’s particularly looking forward to connecting the faculty’s extensive legal knowledge to the practical work field.

Schelhaas (1971) has been professor of Private law at ESL since 2015. From 2020, she has also been vice dean of bachelor study programmes and thus responsible for the bachelor programmes in Criminology, Fiscal Law and Jurisprudence.

The lawyer studied in Leiden and was then Research Assistant and Assistant Professor at Utrecht University. This was also where she completed her PhD research in penalty clauses in European contract law. In her bachelor and master teaching and research at the ESL, Professor Schelhaas mainly focuses on contract law, and in particular commercial contract law.

Linking expertise to practice

Schelhaas is keen to start as the new dean at the ESL. Responding to her appointment, she said: “I feel this is a young, non-hierarchical, open and dynamic faculty with a no-nonsense approach, which suits me well. With many students from a migration background, we are a good reflection of society, and we fulfil a regional function in education. In education and research, we have a lot of contact with the practical field, and as lawyers we also contribute to solutions to social problems.”

Ed Brinksma, president of the Executive Board and president of the selection committee, is delighted with this appointment and looks forward to working with the new dean. “Harriët Schelhaas not only has an excellent academic reputation, but she also has years of experience as a solicitor. She knows everything that is going on in the faculty with respect to education, research and certainly management. With this solid basis, she will be an excellent leader of the ESL.”

The new dean will succeed Suzan Stoter on 1 January, who became dean in 2013 and was the first female dean at EUR. Suzan Stoter is not leaving the faculty and university. According to a spokesperson, the Executive Board is exploring ways to use her experience in governance further for EUR.