William D'Haeseleer

William D’haeseleer was full professor at KU Leuven and director of its interdisciplinary Energy Institute, until his retirement in October 2022, now being professor emeritus ‘with formal duties’.

His education and industrial experience reflect multidisciplinary interest in energy and the drive to understand the underlying physical phenomena. He obtained an MS in Electro-Mechanical engineering, option Electrical Energy (Burg. ir EW-Energie), after which he pursued out of curiosity a second Master Degree in Nuclear Engineering (Burg. ir. Kernwetenschappen) ―both at KU Leuven―. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA), he subsequently studied plasma physics, obtaining yet another MS in effectively Engineering Physics albeit (formally) in the Electrical Engineering Department. In 1988 he received his PhD from the UW-Madison, having studied transport phenomena in plasmas for thermonuclear fusion.

Before joining KU Leuven, he spent five years at the Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Munich (Germany) and four years at Tractebel Engineering.

His latest research concentrated mainly on energy systems, energy management and energy policy, with emphasis on multidisciplinary facets, particularly energy-system integration, encompassing energy-scientific/technical possibilities and boundary conditions, ecological aspects and economics. He has taught courses on thermal sciences, energy challenges, renewable energy, and nuclear engineering.

He is a member of the Belgian Royal Academy for Sciences and the Arts, and he is and has been an active member and/or chair of several Belgian and international organizations, and EU energy advisory committees, amongst which currently being a Board Member of the USA-based (renewables-driven) Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG), Chair of the Belgian chapter of the World Energy Council and Chair of the Scientific and Technical Committee of Euratom.