The Hague, 5 December 2014, - Starting on  March 1, 2015, Prof. Mr. Paul van der Heijden will take up the chairmanship  of the Board of Directors of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. He will succeed Dr. Bernard Bot, who will resign after a statutory eight-year term.

Paul van der Heijden (born in 1949) is Professor of international labour law at Leiden University.  He served as  rector magnificus at Leiden University and chairman of its Board of Governors from  2007-2013. Van der Heijden is and was active as an academic, a director and a judge.

After acquiring a Ph.D. degree in law in 1984, he was a Professor and rector magnificus at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) until his transfer to Leiden in 2007.
Since 1995 Van der Heijden has also had an active role in the UN-membered International Labour Organization (ILO), currently as chairman of a complaints panel overseeing violations of fundamental labour rights in member states.