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 Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

sociologist. From August 2017 on he is the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

. Sels won the elections for new rector in the first round on Tuesday 9 May 2017 by beating

Rik Torfs Henri Maria Dymphna André Laurent "Rik" Torfs (born 16 October 1956) is a Belgian canon law scholar and media personality. He is a former Senator for the Christian Democratic and Flemish party in the Belgian Federal Parliament and a former Rector ...

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 an 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 practice.

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 Sou ...

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 scient ...

. He obtained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

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 Simon Business School (formerly known as the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration) is the business school of the University of Rochester. It is located on the university's River Campus in Rochester, New York. It was renam ...

of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

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

Universität Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

. 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 the MBA programmes of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and of the ''Instituut Professor Vlerick voor ...

and from 2015 till 2020 Honorary Professor of

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

(

Cardiff Business School Cardiff Business School ( cy, Ysgol Fusnes Caerdydd) is the business school of Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales. It was created in its current form in 1987 and opened by Elizabeth II. Cardiff Business School currently serves 3,000 students a y ...

). 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 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development defines the employment rate as the employment-to-population ratio. This is a statistical ratio that measures the proportion of a country's working age population (statistics are often gi ...

labour turnover In human resources, turnover is the act of replacing an employee with a new employee. Partings between organizations and employees may consist of termination, retirement, death, interagency transfers, and resignations.Trip, R. (n.d.). Turnover-St ...

, replacement demand, occupational projections),

active ageing Active ageing (active aging in the US) is a concept recently deployed by the European Commission, the World Health Organization, and used also in Human Resource Management. This concept evokes the idea of longer activity, with a higher retirement a ...

strategic human resource planning Human resource planning is a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resource planning should serve as a link between human resource management and the overall strategic pla ...

and

talent management Talent management (TM) refers to 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 scholarl ...

. 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 organization ...

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 ...

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 The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

and Labour Economics. 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 ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) 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 and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, a ...

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 (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

for Trends. From 1997 on he is a member of the

Academy of Management The Academy of Management is a professional association for scholars of management and organizations that was established in 1936. It publishes several academic journals, organizes conferences, and provides others forums for management professors ...

(Human Resources, Careers and Organizational Behavior division). According to some students organisations, and several lecturers he did not take up his responsibilities when , a K.U. Leuven student died during a hazing ritual by

Reuzegom Reuzegom (established 1946) was a Flemish fraternity at KU Leuven, part of the Antwerp Guild of student societies (). It is known for a 2013 case of animal abuse and a 2018 case of psychological and physical abuse of three recruits that result ...

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