Rudy Aernoudt

Rudy Aernoudt is a Belgian professor, writer, politician, economist and philosopher, born in Torhout. Between 2013 and 2015 he was Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Henri Malosse. He is professor 'corporate finance' at the Universities of Ghent and Nancy. He was among the first to openly oppose separatist tensions in Belgium and fought against corruption in both the north and the south of the country. He is also the only person to serve as Head of Cabinet at the European, Belgian, Walloon and Flemish levels. He has received several awards, including one for political courage, one for the architect of the best European regional entrepreneurship plan and the prestigious award for democracy Aron-Condorcet. And the Wall Street Journal appointed him as " an unlikely hero to Europe's entrepreneurial class"; and has been very influential within the commission, in particular in the field of business angels. He is considered as the father of the business angels in Europe.
Professional career.
Holding a master's degree in economics from KU Leuven, European economics from the College of Europe and Thomistic philosophy from KU Leuven, Rudy Aernoudt began his career as an official in the European Commission. He was mainly responsible for programs for access to finance. He has written several books and articles on corruption, its nature, its consequences and how to tackle and prevent it. In 2012 he published a novel ("De Duivelszak") about it.
He is one of the few Belgians to make a career on both sides of the linguistic border being alternately Deputy Head of Cabinet of , MR Walloon Minister (Francophone liberal right) in 2001-2003 and then Head of Cabinet of Fientje Moerman, OpenVLD federal-level and then Flemish Minister (Dutch-speaking liberal right) in 2003-2006. He writes, following this experience and due to his convictions, the book which will make him known to the general public ""Wallonia - Flanders, I love you, me neither" published in 2006. In it, he seeks to dispel the different Flemish clichés on Wallonia and to demonstrate the relevance of the unity of Belgium. This book is also a response to the Warande manifesto, a publication by a group of Flemish businessmen and academics, aiming to demonstrate the relevance of Flemish independence from an economic point of view. The same year as he became Secretary-General of the Flemish administration, following his departure from office and his appointment, he denounced embezzlement within his own cabinet with the Minister Fientje Moerman, who was forced to resign.
Rudy Aernoudt followed up on this momentum by publishing the following year "Brussels, the unloved child"" which insists on the advantages that Brussels offers to Belgium, deemed underexploited.
2007 witnessed the EU crisis and the electoral victory of the cartel CD&V/NVA whose visions of the future of the country radically opposed to those of Rudy Aernoudt. He was thus abruptly let go following an interview published in Le Soir where he questioned the legitimacy of Yves Leterme to lead a reform of the state at the expense of the federal government. The Flemish Government stated that "any collaboration had become impossible". Rudy Aernoudt presented his version of events in ""Adventures of a 'cabinettard'" and, after losing the first trial, gets the conviction of the Flemish government.
Academic career.
He is since the age of 28 professor corporate finance and European enterprise policy at the University of Ghent, department of economics and teaches as well at the University of Nancy (Master in European economics). From 2007 to 2010 he was also a lecturer at the University of Liège of a course in Dutch entitled "Introduction to good governance"" (Inleiding tot goed bestuur), whose neutrality was questioned by the Belgian Movement of Young Socialists. He was a guest professor at the Technical University of Brno at the Czech Republic.
He was director-general of OLPC, a spin-off of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Based on this experience, he became curator of TEDxBrussels (www.TEDxbrussels.eu). Now he is a regular speaker at TEDx events on topics as the (non)sense of economy Besides, he speaks at numerous conferences (ESA, OECD, Dubai Forum, CEO summit, etc).
"Rudy Aernoudt is a brilliant Flemish liberal intellectual. Through several books, Rudy Aernoudt is one of the very rare Flemish personalities to promote the union of Belgium, supported by figures [...] Whether you agree or disagree with his ideas, Rudy Aernoudt appears as an intelligent man, offering creative ideas and supporting his conclusions with advanced technical analysis. Far from being an ordinary speaker, he is an excellent speaker with explosive humour 
European civil service.
He was at the basis of several venture capital actions in Europe. He co-founded EBAN, the European Business Angels network and for entrepreneurs he will always be considered as "the father of the Business Angel Networks in Europe" In April 2013, he became the Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Frenchman Henri Malosse. He thus became the only Belgian to have served as Head of Cabinet at the European, national (Belgian) and regional (Wallonia and Flanders) levels. According to the newspaper De Morgen, this fact deserves his nomination for the Guinness book of records. Based on his experience in the US, he conceived and launched an SBIC-inspired investment initiative at the Commission called ESCALAR, that supports venture capital and growth financing for promising companies, enabling them to scale up in Europe and help reinforce Europe's economic and technological sovereignty, which he explained for instance at Euronews
Political mood.
Rudy Aernoudt continued his political battle in 2008 by creating a bilingual movement, "België Anders/La Belgique Autrement" (Belgium differently), which organized a series of conferences. He teaches in different universities (Ghent, Brussels) and became director-general of OLPC, a spin-off from MIT.
In 2008, he created the party, which he left in 2009 to become, in November 2009, Co-Chair of the Popular Party, another political party that has enjoyed rapid success but was a victim of internal tensions. He wanted to make an alliance with the MR but the FDF vetoed by threatening to leave the MR. Aernoudt is considered to be the architect of this separation. In 2009 he became co-chairman of the new People's Party. He was expelled from the party in late August 2010 after what appears to be an internal power struggle, an exclusion whose regularity he often denies while denouncing what he sees as a drift of the party. Modrikamen in turn was excluded in September 2010 by Aernoudt and co-disciples. Aernoudt was confirmed with an overwhelming majority of 28,000 votes but left active politics; at least in terms of political parties.
For his political positions, Rudy Aernoudt has received several awards, among which the prestigious award of the French community Aron - Condorcet and the prize for political courage at Belgian level B+. He is a special advisor at the Diplomatic Institute; honorary council member of the Horta-Freson Foundation and gender ambassador.
Publications.
Rudy published around 30 books and 500+ articles and papers on politics, economics and philosophy.
List of his books below: