Luc Sels (born 1967 in

Merksem Merksem (; former spelling: ''Merxem'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It has 44,808 inhabitants as of 2021. History The history of Merksem goes back to Gallo-Roman times. During that perio ...

) is a Belgian sociologist. From August 2017 on he is the rector of the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

. Sels won the elections for new rector in the first round on Tuesday 9 May 2017 by beating Rik Torfs with 51.12% to 48.88%. Before becoming rector, he was dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business from 2009 till 2017. On 11 May 2021 Sels got reelected as rector with 64% of the votes against 33% for his challenger, toxicologist Jan Tytgat.

Biography

Luc Sels obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Sociology of KU Leuven

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1989. From 1989 till 1990 he was a researcher at the Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA). From 1990 till 1995 he worked with a Doctoral grant

National Fund for Scientific Research The National Fund for Scientific Research (NFSR) (Dutch: ''Nationaal Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek'' (NFWO), French: ''Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique'' (FNRS)) was once a government institution in Belgium for supporting scienti ...

. He obtained a Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 1995. In 1996 he was awarded the triennial 'Joseph Merlot - Joseph Leclercq' award, granted by the Centre International de Recherches et d'Information sur l'Economie Publique, Sociale et Coopérative (CIRIEC), for his doctoral thesis ''"De overheid viert de teugels"''. He became a project manager at HIVA in 1995 and Professor at the Department of Applied Economics in 1996. From 2004 on he is Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business of KU Leuven. As of 2010 he is part-time professor in the Rochester-Bern Executive MBA Program at the Simon Business School of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

. The program is organised in Bern, Switzerland in conjunction with the Institut für Finanzmanagement at the

Universität Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public research university in the Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and progra ...

. From 2011 on he is research fellow at the

Vlerick Business School Vlerick Business School ("Vlerick") is a Belgian business school with campuses in Ghent, Leuven, and Brussels. It is a result of a merger of MBA programmes of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and of the ''Instituut Professor Vlerick voor Mana ...

and from 2015 till 2020 Honorary Professor of

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

( Cardiff Business School). He researches in the Department of Work and Organisation Studies. Primary research interests are estimates and projections of labour market indictors (e.g.

employment-to-population ratio Employment-to-population ratio, also called the employment rate, is a statistical ratio that measures the proportion of a country's working age population (statistics are often given for ages 15 to 64) that is employed. This includes people that ...

, labour turnover, replacement demand, occupational projections), active ageing, strategic human resource planning and

talent management Talent management (TM) is the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarly deba ...

. He published in scholarly journals such as

Journal of Management The ''Journal of Management'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications for the Southern Management Association and covering research on all aspects of management as well as the related field of industrial and organizatio ...

Journal of Management Studies The ''Journal of Management Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1963 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies. The journal publishes both conceptual a ...

Journal of Applied Psychology The ''Journal of Applied Psychology'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. The journal emphasizes the publication of original investigations that contribute new knowledge and understandin ...

Journal of Organizational Behavior The ''Journal of Organizational Behavior'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published eight times a year by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes empirical reports and theoretical reviews spanning the spectrum of organizational behavior researc ...

, Human Relations and

Labour Economics Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...

. He serves on the Belgian High Council for Employment (''Hoge Raad voor de Werkgelegenheid'') as a representative of the Federal Minister of Employment and is director of the Policy Research Centre for Work and Social Economy (''Steunpunt Werk en Sociale Economie'') that gives advice to the

Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President of Flanders, Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Par ...

on labour market policies. He is a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for

Trends A fad, trend, or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation, or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short time period. Fads are objects or behaviors that ...

. From 1997 on he is a member of the

Academy of Management An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the g ...

(Human Resources, Careers and Organizational Behavior division). According to some students organisations, and several lecturers he did not take up his responsibilities when Sanda Dia, a

student died during a hazing ritual by Reuzegom in 2018.

References

External links

*
KU Leuven site Luc Sels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sels, Luc 1967 births Living people Belgian sociologists KU Leuven alumni Academic staff of KU Leuven People from Merksem