Jan M. Smits (born 1967) is a Dutch law professor. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Law at

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities. In ...

, where he is also professor of private law.

Early life and education

Smits was born in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

in 1967. Between 1986 and 1991 he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

and at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

. In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree from Leiden University on a thesis about the foundations of contractual liability.

Career

Smits then taught at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

and in Tilburg and Maastricht. In 1999, he was appointed to the chair of European private law at

, a position he temporarily left between 2008 and 2010 to become professor of European private law and comparative law at Tilburg University. In October 2010 he returned to Maastricht and founded there the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI). Smits is known for his critical view of the European harmonisation process; he is also a fierce believer in legal science as both a national and international discipline. He held visiting positions at a number of foreign institutions, including

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

, the University of Leuven, the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and the

Penn State Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of Pennsylvania State University. History The Law School offers J.D. and LL.M. ...

. Jan Smits is a member of th
Ius Commune Research School
He is a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

since 2010. It was announced in July 2017 that Smits would become the new Dean of Maastricht University's Faculty of Law.

References

External links

Works by Jan Smits in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Publications on SSRN

Bepress page

Personal homepage

Website of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smits, Jan M. 1967 births Living people Dutch legal scholars Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Maastricht University Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Leiden Academic staff of Tilburg University