Deirdre Curtin

Who is Deirdre Curtin?

Deirdre M. Curtin is a legal scholar who works in the area of law and governance of the European Union.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Curtin studied law at University College Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin. She was appointed to the faculty of the Europa Institute at Utrecht University. In 2003, she moved to the professorship of International and European Governance and the multidisciplinary Utrecht School of Governance. In 2008 she was appointed Professor of European Law at the University of Amsterdam, where in 2009 she founded the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance ACELG. Additionally for many years she was visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. She was the first woman to be appointed a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in the section law. In 2007, she won the Spinozapremie, the first time it was awarded to a lawyer.

Her specialist fields are European law and governance of the European Union. She studies phenomena such as democracy, legitimacy and accountability.