Leo Lucassen

Leo Lucassen is Full Professor of Social History at Leiden University's Department of History since September 2007, where he previously served as Associate Professor of Social and Economic History at the University of Amsterdam. He earned his MA in Social and Economic History from Leiden (1985) and PhD cum laude (1990) for his dissertation on Gypsy history in the Netherlands (1850-1940). His academic trajectory includes research fellowships at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS).

Lucassen's research spans four interconnected domains: Migration Studies examining historical patterns and integration; Social History analyzing societal structures; Global History exploring transnational connections; and Urban Studies investigating city dynamics. His publications consistently address migration processes, ethnic relations, and social integration through comparative historical analysis, with recent work focusing on marriage patterns, mobility transitions, and encyclopedic syntheses of European migration.

Notable honors include the 1996 D.J. Veegensprijs and fellowships at premier research institutions. He has directed major projects like the NWO pioneer initiative on immigrant assimilation and coordinates the Leiden University profile area on Global Interactions. Leadership roles encompass:

• Chair of Social and Economic History section
• Chair of Centre for the History of Migrants (CGM)
• Membership in Academia Europaea
• Membership in N.W. Posthumus Institute