Prof. Rudy Aernoudt University of Ghent, Belgium

Rudy Aernoudt is an experienced Professor of Corporate Finance and European policy and has outstanding international and European experience (MIT, OECD, European commission, European Council and European Social and Economic Committee). He, uniquely, occupied Chief of Staff (Director of Cabinet) positions at different governance levels (Europe, Belgium, Flanders, Wallonia). He... read moreserved in the Belgian government as Secretary-General for Economy, Science and Innovation, was director-general of OLPC (one laptop per child, spinoff MIT), and curator of TEDx Brussels.

Rudy is professor Corporate Finance at the universities of Ghent and Nancy and affiliate professor at the BMI - MBA program (founded by HEC Paris and Louvain Management School).

He holds Masters (triple cum laude) in Thomistic Philosophy (University of Leuven), Industrial and Monetary Economy (University of Leuven), and in European economy (college of Europe).

He is also co-founder of EBAN, the European Business Angels Network, founder of FREE (the Foundation for the Research on Education and Entrepreneurship), and founder of Growth Academy for Enterprises and European Chair of the WBAF (world Business Angel Forum).

Besides, he is a columnist (FD Magazine, CXO, and Trends) and author of 40+ books and 500+ papers on corporate finance, politics, and economics. He published in Journals such as Small Business economics, Journal of Entrepreneurial Culture, Venture Capital & Ekonomiaz. His handbooks 'Financial Management in Practice' and ‘Entrepreneurship, no guts, no glory’ (both Intersentia Cambridge) are widely used both in the academic and business worlds. He expressed his vision on the future of Belgium is his book: ‘Corona crisis: an electroshock for Belgium?’ (in French & Dutch) and on Europe is his book ‘Europe: Towards a new impetus post-Brexit’ (2023).

Rudy has received several awards, such as the prize for democracy Aron-Condorcet, the prize for political mood Belgium, architect of the best regional entrepreneurship plan Europe, and the WBAIF world-award for advancing the agenda for Business Angels.