HomeProf. A. Jan A.J. Eijsbouts

Expert resume of Prof. A. Jan A.J. Eijsbouts

Extraordinary professor of CSR and professorial fellow of the Institute of Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation at Maastricht University

Education: Gymnasium B (Latin school, math’s section) and Masters Degree in Law, Groningen University (optional courses included Tax law and Anglo-American Law).

Career: in 2007 Jan Eijsbouts retired as Group General Counsel and Director Legal Affairs of Akzo Nobel NV, a Netherlands based multinational company active in Pharma (until 2007), Coatings and Chemicals, with 2010 sales of Euro 14,5 bln , 55.000 employees and industrial operations in over 80 countries worldwide.

After his military service (Legal Counsel HR Division Ministry of Defence,1st lieutenant) he worked at Royal Philips Corporate Legal Department as assistant to the Group’s Legal Adviser (1971-1976) and as senior legal counsel at Dutch Chemical multinational DSM (1976-1989) until, in 1989, he joined Akzo as senior legal counsel Chemicals Division. In 1994 he transferred to the Group’s Head Quarters and per January 1, 1999 he was appointed General Counsel and Director Legal Affairs at Akzo Nobel NV, which he combined with membership of the Dutch Bar (2001-2008).

In the above capacities he advised on all relevant legal aspects of corporate governance, complex international business, corporate (re)structuring and merger transactions. Capital market operations, securities listings and transactions, competition and environmental law issues as well as international conflict management and litigation all formed an important part of the work through his years of corporate counseling. His responsibilities as General Counsel included the management of the Legal and IP functions of the group. He was chairman of the Group’s Disclosure and Compliance Committees.

Currently Jan Eijsbouts is extraordinary professor of CSR and professorial fellow of the Institute of Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation at Maastricht University and consultant in corporate governance, CSR and conflict management with The Gaemo Group (www.gaemogroup.com).

Additional occupations:

Since 2002 he has been active in various capacities in the International Bar Association (IBA): Co-Chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum (CCF; 2004 - 2005), Council of the Legal Practice Division IBA (2005 – 2009) and Co-Chair of the IBA Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (2007 – 2008). He was member of the Legal Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands (chair 1997-2003), co-founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of the AEX proxy voting facility Shareholders Communication Channel Foundation (1998-2008), of the European Advisory Committee of CPR, New York (1996-2008) and of the Lex Mundi Client Advisory Board (2004-2007). In 2010 he delivered his preadvice on the general civil and corporate law aspects of CSR to the Dutch Association of Jurists for review at its 2010 Annual Meeting.

Jan Eijsbouts is Chairman of the Board of the World Legal Forum Foundation (The Hague, NL) and member of the Advisory Board of the Mentor Group (Boston, US), of the International Advisory Board of the CEELI Institute (Prague, Czech Republic) and of the Public-private Network of HiiL (the Hague Institute on the internationalization of Law). He is an accredited mediator of NMI, ACB and CEDR (London) and member of the Dutch Mediators Certification Board.

Jan Eijsbouts was awarded the Royal distinction Officer in the Order of Oranje Nassau.