Noël, Baron Devisch (born 6 March 1943, in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

) 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 language ...

businessman and former President of the

Boerenbond The Boerenbond (Dutch, or german: Bauernbund; literally "Farmers' League") is a professional association of farmers active in the Flemish and German-speaking communities of Belgium. Founded in 1890 and based in Leuven, the Boerenbond is an org ...

(Belgian Catholic Farmers Union) in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

. He was succeeded by Piet Vanthemsche.

Education

He obtained a degree in

agricultural engineering Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil, ...

from the

Katholieke Universiteit 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 ...

(KUL), and a Master of Science in agricultural management from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

(

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, United Kingdom), and a PhD in agricultural economics from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

(United States).

Career

He started his professional career in 1967 as a researcher at the ''Institut économique agricole'' in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where he would stay until 1972 and again from 1976 until 1978. From 1972 until 1975, ha was Assistant at the

(United States). From 1979 until 1980, he was a member of the Cabinet of Belgian Agriculture Minister Albert Lavens. From 1981 until 1984 he was a

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

official in

. From 1985 until 1988, he was a member of the Cabinet

Frans Andriessen Franciscus Henricus Johannes Joseph "Frans" Andriessen (2 April 1929 – 22 March 2019) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessperson who served as E ...

, Vice-President of the European Commission. In 1989, he was a member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner Ray Mac Sharry. In 1989 he became a member of the Executive Committee of the Belgian ''Boerenbond'' and he became its vice-president on 1 June 1992 until 31 October 1995. He became President of the organization on 1 November 1995. In addition he was Chairman of the Boerenbond, and of SBB Servicegroup (

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

) and the ''Maatschappij voor Roerend Bezit van de Belgische Boerenbond cv '' (MRBB), the holding company of the ''Boerenbond''. He became Director of

Almanij Almanij (for ''Algemene'' ''Maatschappij'' voor ''Nijverheidskrediet'', "General Company for Industry") was a Belgian holding company active in financial services, created in 1931 and merged into KBC Group in March 2005. History Almanij was inco ...

in 1998 and became a member of its Management Committee in 2004 until 2005 when Almanij ceased to exist as a separate entity when it merged with KBC to form the

KBC Group KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank ...

. Noël Devisch is also Director of KBC Insurance and a former regent of the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; nl, Nationale Bank van België, french: Banque nationale de Belgique, german: Belgische Nationalbank) has been the central bank of Belgium since 1850. The National Bank of Belgium was established with 100% pr ...

References

Sources

Noël Devisch

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devisch, Noel Belgian businesspeople Belgian Roman Catholics 1943 births Living people University of Missouri alumni