Holder of the van Doorn Chair

Fifth holder of the Chair (2022)

Prof. dr. Jan Rath is currently serving as full Professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam, with a focus on the cities and their ethnic and cultural diversity. Rath studies migrants’ integration in the urban environment, with a specific interest in the political and economic dimensions of this process. His research revolves around migrants’ entrepreneurial activities and their embeddedness in, and impact on, sectors and neighborhoods from a comparative perspective.More recently, Rath has concentrated on the development of small businesses that initially and primarily focus on members of the new middle class. “Rath is a successful and productive researcher, who emphatically lays connections between academic research and issues in our society,” says Prof. Romke van der Veen (EUR), who presides over the Council responsible for the Van Doorn Chair. “As such, his work aligns very well with Van Doorn’s professional approach and method of working.”

Fourth holder of the Chair (2020-2021)

Prof. Bea Cantillon was the fourth holder of the alternating van Doorn Chair at the ESSB and Van Doorn Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). Cantillon is a Professor of Social Policy at the University of Antwerp and a member of that university’s Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy. She studied Political and Social Sciences at the Universities of Antwerp and Leuven. She is a prolific author with many international publications. Bea Cantillon has been a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts since 2003. Prof. Cantillon is Secretary-General of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security. She holds an honorary doctorate from the Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles. Between 2004 and 2008 she was the Vice-Rector of the University of Antwerp.

On December 1, 2021, Prof. Bea Cantillon delivered the Van Doorn Lecture at the DPAS International lecture series, video and text. 

Third holder of the Chair (2018)

Prof. Evelyn Ruppert had been installed as the third holder of the alternating van Doorn Chair at the ESSB and Van Doorn Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). Evelyn Ruppert is a Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is an acclaimed scientist, conducting research on sociologies of data and governing, big data, open government data, and the way knowledge is translated into the practice of topical policy questions such as migration and citizenship. Prof. Ruppert raises vital sociological questions such as: how does the use of big data influence the research of social scientists? How are methodologies developed in their historical and political context? With her work, Prof. Ruppert builds on the heritage of Prof. Jacques van Doorn.

On the 14th of June 2018 Prof. Dr Evelyn Ruppert gave the Van Doorn lecture on the Day of Sociology.

You can read the text here.

Second holder of the Chair (2013)

The acclaimed Prof. Kees Schuyt LLM has a long career in sociology and other disciplines. He was installed as the holder of the alternating van Doorn Chair with the aim to conduct research on the specific knowledge area of policy and law and general questions related to the development of the social welfare state. Mr Schuyt has often collaborated with Mr Jacques van Doorn on these topics. In 1974 both gentlemen founded, together with professor Albeda and Dr Bram Peper, the magazine Beleid en Maatschappij (Policy and Society). For many years, Jacques van Doorn was the editor in chief of this magazine. In 1978, Mr van Doorn and Mr Schuyt published the first critical analysis of the Dutch welfare state ‘De stagnerende verzorgingsstaat’ (‘The stagnating welfare state’, 5th print 2012). Mr Schuyt has been part of the scientific circle of Mr Jacques van Doorn for over 30 years.

First holder of the Chair (2012)

With his outstanding publications, which have often been lauded, his excellent teaching capacities and governing skills, Prof. Mark Bovens LLM is one of the most prominent public administrators of this time. He held the Chair from the first of February until the 30th of June 2012. During this period he executed various research activities at EUR. In addition, he participated in various research projects at the NIAS on meritocracy and public accountability.