- Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt , Prime Minister since July 1999Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy which evolved after World War II from a unitary state to a federal state. The bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament is composed of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The former corresponds to a mix of directly-elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions, while the latter proportionally represents all Belgians older than 18.
- Robert Cailliau
Robert Cailliau (b. 26 January 1947) is one of the co-developers of the World Wide Web.
- Leo Baekeland
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (Ghent, November 14, 1863 - February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic. Born in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland was the son of a cobbler and a maid. Upon completing his doctorate at the University of Ghent, he emigrated to America in 1889. Baekeland sold his patent for Velox photographic paper to the president of Kodak, …
- Jacques Rogge
Count Jacques Rogge (born May 2, 1942 in Ghent, Belgium) is by profession an orthopedic surgeon. He is the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Born in Ghent, Dr. Count Rogge competed in yachting in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, and played on the Belgian national rugby union team. Rogge served as president of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992, and as president of the European Olympic Committees from 1989 to 2001.
- Yves Leterme
Yves Camille Désiré Leterme is an incoming Belgian Senator, a former Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Yves Leterme is favourite to become the next prime minister of Belgium following the 2007 Belgian General Election. He tendered his resignation as Flemish Minister-President on June 26, 2007, and has been succeeded in that position by Kris Peeters.
- Willy de Clercq
Viscount Willy Clarisse Elvire Hector De Clercq (Ghent, 8 July 1927) is a Belgian liberal politician. After his law and notariat studies at the University of Ghent (Ghent, Belgium) and a scholarship at Syracuse University (Syracuse, United States), De Clerq became a lawyer at the Court of appeal in Ghent and a professor at Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Although he could have had a successful career in law, he got into politics.
- Maurice Maeterlinck
Count Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949) was a Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life.
- Franz Cumont
Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism. Cumont was a graduate of the University of Ghent (PhD, 1887). After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia (published in 1906) and in Syria, …
- Marc van Montagu
Marc Van Montagu (b.Ghent, 10 November 1933) is a Belgian molecular biologist. He was full Professor and director of the Laboratory of Genetics at the faculty of Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium) and scientific director of the Genetics Department of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB). Together with Jozef Schell he founded the biotech company Plant Genetic Systems Inc.
- Dirk Verhofstadt
Dirk Verhofstadt (b. Dendermonde 1955) is a Belgian liberal (Rawlsian) theorist and brother of the Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. He has a keen interest in political philosophy, and his philosophical outlook is influenced by Karl Popper. He graduated in law and press- and comminication sciences at the University of Ghent.
- Paul Janssen
Paul Adriaan Jan Janssen (Turnhout, Belgium, 12 September 1926 - Rome, Italy, 11 November, 2003) was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company with over 20,000 employees. He achieved a postdoctorate in Pharmacology and is one of Belgium's most loved figures, even posthumously. Dr. Paul Janssen was the son of Constant Janssen and Margriet Fleerackers. On 16 April 1957, he married Dora Arts. Paul Janssen died in Rome, Italy in 2003, …
- Walter Fiers
Walter Fiers (b.Ieper ,Belgium, 1931) is a Belgian molecular biologist. He obtained a degree of Engineer for Chemistry and Agricultural Industries at the University of Ghent in 1954, and started his research career as an enzymologist in the laboratory of Laurent Vandendriessche in Ghent. In 1956-57, he worked with Heinz Holter in Copenhagen (Denmark). In 1960, he obtained a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation and joined the group of Bob Sinsheimer as a postdoc.
- Jozef Schell
Jozef Schell was a Belgian molecular biologist. Jozef (Jeff) Schell studied Zoology and microbiology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. From 1967 to 1995 he worked as a professor there. From 1978 to 2000 he was director and head of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (Institut für Züchtungsforschung) at the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Cologne, Germany. He received many prizes, among which were the Francqui Prize in 1979, …
- Corneille Heymans
Dr. Corneille Jean François Heymans was a Belgian physiologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1938 for showing how blood pressure and oxygen content of the blood are measured by the body and transmitted to the brain. He succeeded his father, Jean-François Heymans, at the Ghent University as a professor of pharmacology. Heymans married Dr.
- Suzanne Lilar
Suzanne Lilar (born Suzanne Verbist) (b. Ghent, 21 May 1901 - d. Brussels, 12 December 1992) was a Flemish Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright writing in French.
- Henri Pirenne
Henri Pirenne (December 23 1862, Verviers - October 25 1935, Uccle) was a leading Belgian historian. He also became prominent in the non-violent resistance to the Germans who occupied Belgium in World War I. Henri Pirenne's reputation today rests on three contributions to European history. First, what has become known as the Pirenne Thesis, concerning when the Middle Ages started, Second, a distinctive view of Belgium's medieval history, …
- Adolphe Quetelet
Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quételet was a Flemish astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociologist. He founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential in introducing statistical methods to the social sciences. Some French-language sources give his last name as Quetelet, with no accent.
- Rudy Dekeyser
Rudy Dekeyser is the Managing Director of VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and heads the technology transfer team of the institute. He obtained a PhD in molecular biology at the University of Ghent. He was director of DevGen and CropDesign and is a director of the biotech companies Ablynx, Peakadilly, Actogenix, EMBLEM (technology transfer company of EMBL) and FlandersBio.
- Jo Bury
Jo Bury is the Managing Director of VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and previously held the post of Managing Director of VLAB (Flanders Action Programme in Biotechnology). Jo Bury obtained a Master's degree in Pharmacy and a PhD of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Ghent. He took an MBA degree at the Vlerick School for Management in Ghent. After performing scientific research in the field of atherosclerosis during several years, …
- Karel Poma
Karel Emiel Hubert Poma (b. Antwerp, 14 March 1920) is a Belgian liberal and politician for the PVV. He is a son of Carolus Poma, who was a lieutenant of the Antwerp fire brigade and village council member of Wilrijk (1946-1958), and its burgomaster (1953-1958). He is married to Juliana Walgraeve, and together they have two children; a son Peter (b. 1950) and a daughter Kathleen (b. 1954).
- Johan Daisne
Johan Daisne was the pseudonym of Flemish language author Herman Thiery (2 September 1912-9 August 1978). Born in Ghent, Belgium, he attended the Koninklijk Atheneum before studying Economics and Slavic languages at Ghent University, receiving his doctorate in 1936. In 1945 he was appointed chief librarian of the city of Ghent. Thiery began writing under the pen-name Johan Daisne in 1935, …
- Tom Lanoye
Tom Lanoye is a Flemish novelist and poet. He went to school at the "Sint Jozef Klein Seminarie" in Sint-Niklaas, where Anton van Wilderode was a teacher. He graduated in Germanic philology and sociology at the University of Ghent. Lanoye started his career as poet in the style of John Cooper Clarke. From 1981, he formed a duo with James Bordello. Within a year they went from unannounced recitals in Ghent student cafés to the Night of Poetry in Utrecht (city).
- Marc Verwilghen
Marc Ernest Elisabeth Robert Juliette Verwilghen, born 21 September 1952 in Dendermonde, is a Belgian politician. Verwilghen studied law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Ghent and is the holder of an honorary doctorate from Ghent. A member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 1991 and 1995, and in 1999, to the Belgian Senate.
- Hugo van Heuverswyn
Hugo Van Heuverswyn (b. 1948) is a Belgian molecular biologist, biotech pioneer and businessman. He has been the chairman of, the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), since its inception in 1995.
- Etienne Vermeersch
Professor Etienne Vermeersch (Sint-Michiels- Brugge, 2 may 1934) is a renown Belgian (moral) philosopher, skeptic, opinion maker and debater. He's one of the founding fathers of the abortion and euthanasia law in Belgium. He's also former Vice-Rector of the Ghent University. Vermeersch became atheist after five years Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He broke with his belief when he was 25, like most of his collegues at the time. After he became a philosophical materialist.
- Herman Vanderpoorten
Herman Vanderpoorten (Lier 25 August 1922- 3 September 1984) was a Belgian liberal politician. He was a son of the politician Arthur Vanderpoorten. He is the father of Marleen Vanderpoorten and an uncle of Patrick Dewael.
- Godfried-Willem Raes
Godfried-Willem Raes is a Belgian composer, performer and instrument maker. He is the founder of the Logos Foundation of which he is still the president. He holds a PhD from Ghent University and is professor of experimental music composition at the Ghent Royal Conservatory. Godfried-Willem Raes was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1952. He studied musicology and philosophy at the Ghent State University as well as piano, clarinet, …
- Marc Bossuyt
Marc Bossuyt (b. Ghent, 9 January 1944) obtained a PhD in law at the University of Ghent in 1968, and a "Certificate of international relations" at Johns Hopkins University Bologna in 1969. He is a judge in the Constitutional Court of Belgium, professor of international law at the University of Antwerp, and member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
- Prudens van Duyse
Prudentius van Duyse or Prudens van Duyse (Dendermonde, 17 September, 1804-Ghent, 13 November, 1859) was a Flemish writer. He started his career a clerk of a notary, but afterwards studied law at the University of Ghent, where he graduated in 1932. In 1836, he became the archivist of the city of Ghent.
- Marleen Vanderpoorten
Marleen Caroline Valère Vanderpoorten is a Flemish politician and member of the VLD. She is a daughter of Herman Vanderpoorten and a granddaughter of Arthur Vanderpoorten. She obtained a degree in history from the University of Ghent (Ghent, Belgium) From 1999 to 2004 she was the Minister of Education in the Flemish Government. On July 12, 2006 she succeeded Norbert De Batselier as President of the Flemish Parliament.
- Dirk Frimout
Dirk Dries David Damiaan Frimout (Ph.D.) (born March 21, 1941 in Poperinge, Belgium) is an astrophysicist and was the first Belgian in space.
- Jacques-Joseph Haus
Jacques-Joseph Haus was born in Würzburg, Germany on January 5, 1796 to Ernest-Augustus Haus and Marie-Barbe Stang. He died in Ghent, Belgium on february 23,1881. Haus attended school through to university in Würzburg. He achieved a doctor's rank in philosophy January 3 1814, two days before turning eighteen. Three years later, April 26 1817, he was proclaimed "summa cum laude" doctor in civil law and in canonical law.
- Peter Piot
Dr. Peter Piot is Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN specialized agency UNAIDS. In 2004, he was awarded the Vlerick Award. "From UNAIDS.org Bio:" <blockquote> Executive Director of UNAIDS since its creation in 1995 and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, …
- Herman Liebaers
Herman Liebaers (b. Tienen, 1919) is a Belgian linguist. He was the first Fleming to become "Marschal of the Royal Household" of the Royal Court of Belgium. He was married to the late Isa Hereng, and their daughter Inge Liebaers is a Professor of genetics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
- Jules van Praet
Jules Van Praet (Bruges, 2 July 1806-Brussels, 29 December 1887) was a Belgian diplomat and personal secretary of King Leopold I of Belgium.
- Pierre Chevalier
Pierre Antoine Marie Chevalier (born October 8, 1952 in Bruges) is a Belgian politician and member of the VLD. He is a former Secretary of State in the Belgian Federal Government and was elected to the Belgian Senate in 2003 by the Dutch electoral college. He is also a freemason. He studied Laws and Criminology at the University of Ghent before he became a lawyer. He became involved in politics early on, first as a Trotskyist, as a socialist later on, …
- Paul de Wispelaere
Paul De Wispelaere (b. Bruges, 4 July 1928) is a Flemish writer. He attended high school at the "Sint-Lodewijkscollege" in Brussels, where he graduated in Greek-Latin. He studied Germanic philology at the University of Ghent and obtained a PhD in 1974. Paul De Wispelaere started his professional career at the school for teachers in Bruges, and from 1972 until 1992 he lectured in Dutch literature at the University of Antwerp.
- Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert
Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert (Kortrijk, 21 July, 1809-Ghent, 3 July, 1872) was a Flemish writer. He studied medicine at the University of Utrecht (1827-1829) and became officer of health in the Dutch army (1830-1835). After his dismissal, he graduated in medicine at the University of Ghent (1836-1837), and became a general practitioner in Ghent. Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert became active in the Flemish movement.
- Karel van de Woestijne
Karel van de Woestijne (Ghent, 10 March 1878 - Zwijnaarde, 24 August 1929) was a Flemish writer and brother of the painter Gustave van de Woestijne. He went to highschool at the "Koninklijk Athenaeum" (E:Royal Athenaeum) at the Ottogracht in Ghent. He also studied Germanic philology at the University of Ghent, where he came into contact with French symbolism. He lived at Sint-Martens-Latem from April 1900 up to January 1904, and from April 1905 up to November 1906.
- Wim Blockmans
Wim Blockmans (b. 1945, Antwerp, Belgium) is Professor of Medieval History at Leiden University. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Ghent. He has also been Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study since September 2002. He published "Emperor Charles V 1500-1558" (London 2002), and other books on late medieval and early modern state power.