Hans Bijlsma was trained as a rheumatologist in Utrecht (NL) and London (UK) and became professor and head of the department of rheumatology & clinical immunology in Utrecht in 1990. His research focused on treatment of early rheumatoid arthritis, on a balanced use of glucocorticoids and on phenotyping osteo-arthritis. He coached 75 PhD students, co-authored over 800 international publications (H-factor > 80) and co-authored different books. He became an associate editor of Annals of Rheumatic Diseases in 2000, and now serves as the chair of the Advisory Board of that journal. He has been involved with EULAR for over twenty years, serving as head of education and more recently as president (2017-19).