Biography

Born in 1956,  Danny Pieters obtained his PhD from the Law Faculty of the KU Leuven in 1985 with a doctoral thesis on fundamental social welfare rights in the constitutions of the E.C. member states. In 1986 this thesis was awarded the quadrennial European Emile Bernheim Prize.

First professor at Tilburg University (1986-1992) he became professor at the KU Leuven Law School in 1989, holding since 2005 the chair of Social Security Law.  Since 1993 head of the Research Unit Europe and Social Security (RUESS). Since 1998 Program Director of the European Master Social Security.

From 1994 to 2013 Secretary General of the European Institute of Social Security.

From 1999 till 2003 and from 2010 till 2013 Member of the Belgian federal Parliament (first in Lower House; then in Senate, of which he was the president in 2010/2011).
 
Since 2013 Vice Rector for Humanities and Social Sciences as well as Vice Rector for International Policy of the KU Leuven.

Areas of interest

- Social Law

- Social Security

- Comparative Law

- European Law