Teun Struycken studied at Radboud University in the 1950s, returning there after a brief hiatus in 1963 to teach Civil Law. He obtained his PhD cum laude in 1970 and became a professor the very next year, a position he remained loyal to until his retirement in 2001.
During her studies, Françoise was a member of the Meisjesclub - the female counterpart of Carolus Magnus in those years - and was for one year house praeses of the ‘Meisjeshuis’ at St Annastraat 24. Unlike Teun, Françoise did not become a Radboudian for life. She started her career in the legal profession and became the legal lynchpin of many a foundation, including as steward-secretary of De Beide Weeshuizen in Nijmegen. “My first job in the legal profession was poorly paid,” Françoise recalls. “Teun therefore regularly invited me to dinner.” Teun, always with a sparkle in his eyes, shines extra when he thinks back to those evenings at the Oranjehotel on the Molenstraat. “Also gone already. There's a pizzeria there now. I had already noticed her brilliance and charm in the seminars, but our story really started in the Oranjehotel.”
Teun's father also studied law at Radboud University, his great-uncle was a known lawyer and the three children of Teun and Françoise are also all lawyers. (Note: of the now six grandchildren, none yet). None of those three studied in Nijmegen; however, eldest son Teun - state secretary in the current cabinet - did get his PhD at Radboud University. “A friend of ours advised them not to study at the faculty where their father was a professor,” Teun explains. “And that's fine,” says Françoise. “They are allowed to go further afield than Nijmegen, good for developing independence.”
