prof.dr. (Henk) HT van der Molen

Biography

Henk van der Molen (1954) is Professor-emeritus of Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam and has been the Dean of the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) from 2009 until 2018.

Professor Van der Molen has been associated with the Institute of Psychology of Erasmus University since 2001. Together with founding dean prof. dr. Henk Schmidt he has been responsible for the development of the Bachelor and Master programmes Psychology. Both programmes have been rated by students as the best psychology programmes in the Netherlands for more than 10 years.

Moreover, as Dean of ESSB Van der Molen has been responsible for the development of the Bachelor and Master programmes of Pedagogy and Education in 2011, and for the start of the Bachelor programme Liberal Arts and Sciences (the Erasmus University College) in 2013.

Since 2005, Professor Van der Molen was chairman and educational director of the Institute of Psychology. Previously, he was professor of psychology at the Open University of the Netherlands (1992-2001) and the University of Groningen (1999-2004).

Van der Molen has extensive managerial experience in a wide variety of functions. Prior to his appointment at EUR, he was Dean of the Faculty of Psychology at the Open University of the Netherlands. He was also chairman of the General and Executive Board of the Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen (Dutch Association of Psychologists) (1995-2003), the Chamber of Psychology of the VSNU (Dutch Association of Universities) and various accreditation committees.He studied clinical psychology at the University of Groningen and graduated cum laude in 1985 with his thesis 'Hulp als onderwijs. Effecten van cursussen voor verlegen mensen' (Treatment as Education. Effects of courses for shy people). His promotors were Prof.dr. Gerrit Lang and Prof.dr. Adriaan D. de Groot.

In collaboration with others, Professor Van der Molen has published over 40 books. All together more than 500.000 copies of these books have been studied by students in higher education. He has also (co-)authored over 220 national and international publications.

Finally, he has been involved in the development of more than twenty audiovisual programs on communication skills and thirty interactive computer programs for the acquisition of professional skills, such as communication, psychodiagnostics and academic writing skills. He has been (co-) promoter of twenty-eight PhD dissertations.

After finishing his deanship of ESSB in 2018 he received the distinction Erasmus met de Reispet (Erasmus with the Travel Cap) from the Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam.  He has held his farewell lecture Gespreksvoering als Missie (Communication as Mission) on 8 October 2021. After that lecture he received from the Mayor of Rotterdam Achmed Aboutaleb a Royal Decoration: Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau (Officer in the Order of Oranje Nassau).