MARCHAL Jean

Biographie

Biography of Jean MARCHAL

Academic degrees and areas of expertise

Jean Marchal is a Civil Engineer in Naval Construction, a doctor of Applied Sciences (Phd in the field of river navigation) and an Associate of Higher Education (Thesis in the field of river, maritime and port engineering) from the University of Liège.

To enable research and study of river and maritime transport and port logistics, he has gradually broadened its skills to the analysis of transport systems and logistics.

Main stages of his academic career 

Proposed by the University of California of San Diego to apply for its chair of Maritime Engineering, he however chose to continue his research at the FNRS (Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research) where he reached the rank of Research Director. He was then appointed Full Professor at ULG. He created and chaired the ANAST Service (around twenty researchers) for more than thirty years, a Service from which the spin-off DN&T emerged. 

The ULG appointed him advisor then vice-rector for international relations and mobility from 2005 to 2014. He chaired respectively for 4 years the Interuniversity Commission for International Relations (CIRI) of the French Community of Belgium and the Commission of Interuniversity Development Cooperation (CUD) of Belgium. 

He is currently Professor Emeritus and honorary vice-rector of ULG. 

Scientific and honorary distinctions 

Around twenty national and international scientific/honorary prizes, including two Doctor Honoris Causa titles, have been awarded to him. Two important cities in the State of Sao Paulo named him Honorary Citizen. The Ministry of National Education of Vietnam awarded him the Ho Chi Minh medal, the highest distinction awarded to a foreigner, for his contributions to the development of research and training in its universities.

He is an emeritus member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Belgium and an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of which he was president. By royal decree of February 29, 2016, the Belgian order of "Grand Officier de l'Order of Leopold" was awarded to him.

Research and expertise activities

He has coordinated several research projects at regional, national and international levels and various study projects at these levels. His expertise is internationally recognized and is demonstrated by carrying out project evaluations for various international organizations: World Bank, United Nations, NATO, European Union, American, Asian and African Development Banks and for various governments: Belgium, France, Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa, Ecuador, Argentina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Vietnam.

Continuing education activities

Several training centers (Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ecuador, South Africa) have been developed under his coordination as well as continuing training programs for the benefit of African, Asian and South American trainees.

253 publications and 152 national and international conferences.