Marleen Willekens is Full Professor of Accounting and Auditing at KU Leuven’s Faculty of Economics and Business and part-time Research Professor of Auditing at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo. She earned her PhD in Industrial and Business Studies from Warwick Business School (UK) and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ghent University. Marleen has served as Vice-Dean of Research and Head of the Accounting, Finance & Insurance department at KU Leuven and currently acts as Research Coordinator for the Humanities and Social Sciences Group.

Her research focuses on auditing, corporate governance, and financial reporting, including topics such as audit market competition, auditor regulation and liability, audit firm governance, and the valuation of intangible assets. She applies economic theories to understand auditor and audit firm decision-making, complemented by empirical analyses using archival and hand-collected data. Marleen has published extensively in leading journals such as Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, and Contemporary Accounting Research. She was principal investigator for the EU Statutory Audit Reform study commissioned by the European Parliament and has secured multiple research excellence grants.

Marleen is co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Auditing Research, Editor and Director of the Symposium of The International Journal of Accounting, and Associate Editor of the British Accounting Review. She previously served as Editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory and on editorial boards of major accounting journals. In addition to her academic roles, she is an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Aedifica NV/SA and Intervest Offices & Warehouses