Raoul "Rudi" Dudal (1 May 1926 – 23 January 2014) was a Belgian soil scientist. He was born in

Brugge Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He graduated in agricultural engineering in 1949 and took a PhD in agricultural sciences in 1955, both at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

. From 1955 to 1984 he worked in the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, among others as the chief of soil resources development and conservation service from 1970 to 1975 and director of the Land and Water Development Division from 1976 to 1984. He was also among the main developers of the Soil Map of the World. Within the International Soil Science Society, Dudal chaired the Commission on Soil Classification and Survey from 1968 to 1974, then served as secretary-general from 1974 to 1978. From 1984 he was a professor of soil science at KU Leuven. Building on the earlier work with the Soil Map of the World, Dudal was also engaged in crafting

World Reference Base for Soil Resources The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. The currently valid version is the fourth edition 2022. It is edited by a working group of the I ...

as secretary of the International Reference Base for Soil Classification from 1986 through 1992. He received

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s at the

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

(1976), the

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

(1979) and the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

(1981). He was a member of the

Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences The Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences (RAOS; , ARSOM; , KAOW) is a Belgian federal academy that contributes to the progress of scientific knowledge about overseas regions. It is located in Uccle, Brussels, and is one of Belgium's numerous ac ...

from 1979, and was a corresponding or honorary member of the German Soil Science Society (1980), the Soil Conservation Society of America (1981), the (1982) and the

Soil Science Society of America The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), is the largest soil-specific society in the United States. It was formed in 1936 from the merger of the Soils Section of the American Society of Agronomy and the American Soil Survey Association. The So ...

(1985). He was inducted into the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

in 1989. In 2010 he received the Guy Smith Medal. He died in January 2014 in

Borchtlombeek Roosdaal () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Borchtlombeek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Pamel and Strijtem. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, 2016, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudal, Rudi 1926 births 2014 deaths Belgian soil scientists Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni United Nations officials Academic staff of KU Leuven Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters