Bert Weckhuysen, a Distinguished University Professor at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), received his Master and PhD degrees from Leuven University (Belgium) in 1991 and 1995. He has worked as a postdoc at Lehigh University (USA) and Texas A&M University (USA). He has (co-)authored ~ 700 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has received many scientific awards, including the Royal Dutch Chemical Society Gold Medal, Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Award, Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis, International Catalysis of the International Association of Catalysis Societies, Bourke Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, Spinoza Award from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, and Tanabe Prize in Acid-Base Catalysis. In 2015 he has been appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. Weckhuysen is an elected member of a.o. the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts, and European Academy of Science.