Barbara Bier

Prof. Barbara Bier is a Professor of Corporate Governance at Nyenrode Business University, where she has held a faculty position since 2011. She is affiliated with the university’s Expertise Center for Entrepreneurship, Governance & Stewardship. Her career spans over 35 years in corporate law within the notarial profession, including a partnership at Stibbe.

• Education: Studied Dutch law and notarial law at Leiden University; received her doctorate from Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) in 2003.
• Research Focus: Legal aspects of corporate governance, ESG principles, shareholder distributions, compliance with the Corporate Governance Code, and comparative corporate law (e.g., Spanish corporate law).
• Key Contributions: Led compliance studies for the Corporate Governance Code Monitoring Committee (2013–2014); served as an advisor to the Dutch Ministry of Justice on public limited company law modernization.
• Global Engagement: Visiting professor at Universitat de València’s Departamento de Derecho Mercantil “Manuel Broseta Pont” (2016).
• Publications: Recent works explore ESG-integrated corporate behavior, shareholder liability, and legal frameworks for dividend distributions.

Her career bridges academia and legal practice, with ongoing advisory roles at Stibbe and the Government of the Netherlands.