Robert J. de Boer MSc PhD (1965) was trained as an aerospace engineer at Delft University of Technology. He majored in man-machine systems and graduated with honours in 1988 on the thresholds of the vestibular organ. After gaining experience in line management and consulting he joined Fokker Technologies in 1999, where he was appointed as the Director of Engineering from 2002 to 2007. He switched to academia mid-career and was awarded his PhD in May 2012 at the Delft University of Technology. From 2009 to 2018 Robert was appointed as Professor of Aviation Engineering at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science. Robert is currently the director at SDO University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, and also a professor of Safety Management there. He is active as a scientist and consultant in the oil & gas industry, defence, nuclear power, healthcare and aviation. He helped create successful courses on Restorative Just Culture in the UK and the Netherlands, and his book on Safety Leadership was published in Spring 2021 by CRC press is well received.