Professor Jantine Schuit new Dean of Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Jantine Schuit (1964) studied Health Education as well as Household and Consumer Studies in Wageningen. Between 1990 and 1997, she worked at Wageningen University as a researcher and earned her PhD with a study into the effect of an exercise program on risk factors for cardiovascular disorders among the elderly. Since 1997, she has worked at various RIVM research centers, first as a junior and senior researcher and project manager and later in various management positions.

Central to her work is stimulating a healthy lifestyle, and her research focuses on the effectiveness, also in terms of costs, of programs and policy measures aimed to discourage unhealthy behaviors. In this context, she concentrates on interventions to improve people’s social and physical environment. Since 2007, she has occupied the chair of Health Promotion and Policy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she supervises PhD students and teaches Master’s and Bachelor’s students in the area of Prevention and Policy.

The Executive Board calls Schuit ‘a capable manager with an good understanding of the developments within the social sciences. She is a connecting leader, creative, enthusiastic, and inspiring. She also has a reputable national and international network. With her academic experience, her management skills, and her personality, she will greatly contribute to further developing the course that the School has set for the coming years.’