Dr M. van Leeuwen (1951) has been named professor by special appointment of Modern Transatlantic Relations from a historic, economic and cultural perspective, specialising in relations between Europe and North America in the period after 1945, at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Humanities. The chair was designated on behalf of the Netherlands Atlantic Association. Marianne van Leeuwen will be succeeding Ronald Havenaar, who has occupied the chair since 2005.

Van Leeuwen has held a position at the General Intelligence and Security service (AIVD) since 2003. Her duties include the preparation of phenomenon and trend analyses of national security threats, such as radicalisation and various forms of terrorism. In addition, Van Leeuwen is a member of the National Anti-terrorism Coordinator's assessment committee on the outsourcing of scientific research. Marianne van Leeuwen has been affiliated with the Netherlands Institute for Studies on Peace and Security in her capacity as scientific researcher since 1980. She has worked at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael' since 1983, where she was appointed deputy head of research in 1998. Van Leeuwen has focused on various key policy issues, ranging from nuclear non-proliferation, international relations with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, domestic influences on US foreign policy and international terrorism. Her monographs and articles on these issues have been published by both Dutch and foreign publishers.

From 1994 to 2003, Van Leeuwen served as a member of the Advisory Council on Peace and Security (AVV) and the Committee on Peace and Security of the Advisory Council on International Affairs, the successor to the AVV. She also took part in the focus group initiated by Minister of Defence Henk Kamp.

Van Leeuwen's lectures will focus on the development of US and European views on the other party's social and political nature and foreign policy. She will also be assessing how such views affect Transatlantic relations. Van Leeuwen will seek to assess these relations in the context of broader geopolitical shifts, and will be focusing on both current and historic developments.