Executive Board

The Executive Board is responsible for preparing and implementing policy and managing the university. The members of the Board are: K.F.B. (Kristel) Baele MSc (President), Prof. dr R.C.M.E. (Rutger) Engels (Rector Magnificus) and R. (Roelien) Ritsema van Eck MSc.

The Executive Board, together with the deans, wishes to put the university firmly on the map as a leading, internationally-oriented university with strong roots in Rotterdam. The members of the Executive Board are appointed by the Supervisory Board of EUR.

H. N. J. (Hans) Smits (interim Chair)
Hans Smits is interim Chair of the Erasmus University Rotterdam Executive Board. Until June 2020, he will take on the responsibility for general administrative affairs within the Executive Board, including the relationship with the Supervisory Board, and for external contacts, including with the Municipality of Rotterdam, the Province and political representatives.
Read more about Hans Smits on his profile page.
Prof. dr R.C.M.E. (Rutger) Engels (Rector Magnificus)
Rutger Engels is Rector Magnificus of Erasmus University Rotterdam. His main focus is on education, research and impact, including academic staff (policy), students and research information. His Rectorship expires in June 2022.
Professor Engels is also Professor Developmental Psychopathology at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (ESSB).
Read Engels' profile or view the side positions of the Rector Magnificus.
R. (Roelien) Ritsema van Eck MSc
Roelien Ritsema van Eck is the third member of the Executive Board. She was appointed effective 1 November 2018.
Roelien Ritsema van Eck (1975) is responsible for the operational management portfolio (finance, economic policy, real estate services and information technologies) within the Executive Board. She oversees the further development of digital support, the continued improvement of the quality of operational management and connecting of operational management with the university’s (strategic) objectives for education, research and valorisation.
Ritsema van Eck studied Business Administration at the University of Groningen and International Management at Oxford Brookes University. She worked at ABN Amro from 1999 until 2018, where she has held various positions. In her last position, she was the Bank’s Real Estate & Facility Management Director.