Bernard Rentier
Under Bernard Rentier's impetus, the University of Liège became a pioneer in open access to scientific knowledge. It was also under his rectorship that Liège's university network was expanded, with the addition of the Fondation universitaire luxembourgeoise d'Arlon in 2004, HEC-Liège in 2005, the Faculté des Sciences agronomiques de Gembloux in 2009, and two architecture schools in 2010, to form the Faculté d'Architecture.
Bernard Rentier made the University of Liège a pioneer in open access to scientific knowledge. It was also under his rectorship that Liège's university network was expanded, with the addition of the Luxembourg University Foundation of Arlon in 2004, and HEC-Liège joining the University in 2005. In 2009, Gembloux's Faculty of Agronomic Sciences joined the University of Liège. In 2010, the Faculty of Architecture is founded on the basis of the merger of two higher institutes in Liège.
Bernard Rentier was born in Liège on September 12, 1947. He graduated in Zoology from the University of Liège in 1970. Doctor in Experimental Biomedical Sciences (1976), agrégé de l'Enseignement Supérieur (1982), trained as a virologist and immunologist, he carried out his research at the National Institute for Medical Research (Mill Hill, London, 1975) and the National Institute for Medical Research (Bethesda, MD, USA, 1976-1981), then at the Université de Liège. A prolific author, he has published over 200 scientific and popular works.
His scientific work has successively focused on influenza, measles and chickenpox, mainly on viral persistence and latency, particularly in the nervous system. He chairs the European branch of the Varicella-Zoster Virus Foundation (1991-2004) and the WAVE (Working against Varicella in Europe) committee. He is Vice-President of the European Federation of Biotechnology (1997-2004). He is co-founder of the spin-off companies Gamma s.a. and Probiox s.a. He founded and chairs EOS (Enabling Open Scholarship), an international association promoting Open Access to scientific publications. He has received numerous prizes and awards for his work.
Bernard Rentier was rector of the University of Liège from 2005 to 2014, having previously been vice-rector of Willy Legros in charge of international relations, research and scientific documentation, from 1997 to 2005. He became rector at a time when the Bologna Decree was being implemented, and set about streamlining the increasingly complex workings of the university. In 2009, he developed RADIUS to manage all the institution's statistical data.
But it was the development of Open Access, his hobbyhorse, that helped to raise awareness of the need for free access to scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity, via the digital route - a battle that is far from won, but one in which the University of Liège will always remain the historical pioneer. Bernard Rentier was also keen to promote the Université de Liège's international networks, and to improve the educational offering for his students. In January 2005, he launched the Institut de Formation et de Recherche en Enseignement Supérieur (IFRES), offering pedagogical training to members of the academic staff. At the same time, the culture of evaluation is strengthened, through the Service de Management et d'Accompagnement à la Qualité (SMAQ) created in 2009.
Under his rectorship, the university network in Liège was also expanded. In 2004, the Fondation universitaire luxembourgeoise in Arlon became part of the Université de Liège. In 2005, HEC-Liège joined the University. In 2009, the Gembloux Faculty of Agronomic Sciences was integrated into the University of Liège. In 2010, the Faculty of Architecture is founded on the basis of the merger of two higher institutes in Liège.
For 4 years, Bernard Rentier chaired the Conseil des Recteurs francophones de Belgique and the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). He is Chairman of Wallonia Biotech Coaching s.a., Vice-Chairman of the Belgian Federal Council for Science Policy, member of the Digital Council of the Walloon Region, of the Board of Directors of the Centre d'Économie Rurale (CER) de Marloie and of the Board of Directors of the Fondation contre l'Arthrose. He is a member of the expert committee of the European University Association (EUA) for Open Science.
On another front, he chairs the Société Libre d'Émulation de Liège, which promotes the arts and sciences, the Orchestre de Chambre de Liège asbl, the Concours de Piano de Liège asbl and the Amis de l'Université de Liège association. He is a member of the Executive Committee of GRE-Liège (Groupement de Redéploiement Economique) and of the Impact Committee of Théâtre de Liège. He will also be entrusted by Rector Corhay with the organization and coordination of the University of Liège's Bicentenary celebrations in 2017.
Photo ©ULiège - Michel Houet
