Eppo Egbert Willem Bruins (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch politician and physicist who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Christian Union (CU) from 2015 to 2021. Prior to his service in Parliament, Bruins was director of the from 2007 until 2015. Since 2022, he has chaired the (AWTI).

Early life and education

Bruins was born on 19 September 1969 in Apeldoorn, Gelderland. He attended high school at the preparatory scientific education level at the Myrtus College in his hometown between 1982 and 1987. Bruins subsequently went to the Utrecht University, where he graduated with an Master of Science (MSc) degree in physics in 1991. Afterwards, he became a doctoral researcher at the (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, FOM) for four years. In 1995, he obtained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

degree in mathematics and physics from the Utrecht University with a thesis entitled "The magnetic form factor of the neutron".

Career

Bruins later lived in the United States, where he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1995 to 1997. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he was a project coordinator at his former training institute FOM between 1997 and 2004, as well as subsequently director of the Leiden Institute of Physics of the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

from 2004 to 2007, before his time as director of the FOM between 2007 and 2015.

Politics

Bruins was a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), but switched over to the socially more conservative Christian Union in 2011. In the parliamentary election of 2012, Bruins was placed as number six on the Christian Union list but was not elected. On 2 December 2015, he became member of the House of Representatives, when he replaced former party leader Arie Slob who had resigned as a parliamentarian. Bruins had previously served as editor-in-chief of the magazine of Christian Union's scientific institute. In the parliamentary election of 2021, he was placed seventh on the party list, failing to win reelection. In 2023, following the resignation of then party leader Gert-Jan Segers as a parliamentarian, a seat in Parliament was proposed to Bruins, who declined to return. The seat went to

Nico Drost Nicolaas (Nico) Drost (born 19 July 1980) is a Dutch politician from the Christian Union who has served as a member of the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-nation ...

instead.

Personal life

Bruins became religious at age 18. He first belonged to the

Reformed Association in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Reformed Association in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (Dutch: ''Gereformeerde Bond in de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland'') is a confessional orthodox Calvinist group and movement within the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (abbrev ...

and later became a Baptist. Bruins is the second Baptist member of the House of Representatives, preceded by .

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruins, Eppo 1969 births Living people Christian Union (Netherlands) politicians Dutch Baptists 21st-century Dutch physicists Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Apeldoorn Utrecht University alumni Converts to Baptist denominations Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians 21st-century Dutch politicians