Born in 1931, Paul Vandenplas graduated in 1954 in Engineering at the Belgian Royal Military Academy (RMA), the West Point of Belgium. While visiting Caltech on a NATO fellowship in 1959 he was drawn into plasma physics by Roy Gould and started there the work that led in 1961 to a Dr Sc Physics at the Université Libre of Brussels. As an Associate and later Full Professor at the RMA he founded and then led the Laboratory for Plasma Physics (LPP-ERM/KMS) until his retirement in 1997. Under his guidance, and based on their experience on the TEXTOR tokamak, LPP-ERM/KMS became a world leader in Ion Cyclotron Heating research enabling finally the design and development of antenna systems for JET, ITER and W7X.

His involvement in fusion started in 1969 when he integrated his laboratory in the EURATOM framework and became the founding director of the EURATOM-Belgian State Association for Thermonuclear Fusion, holding that position until 2002. This was the starting point for a long career of service to fusion and the fusion community in numerous policy and advisory committees, including Member of the JET Council (1977-2001), Chair of the Programme Committee Fusion (1990–1999) (of which he became a Member in 1981), Vice-Chair of the Consultative Committee of EURATOM-Fusion (1999-2005).

He was a staunch advocate of international collaboration. In 1981 he initiated a very close and successful collaboration around TEXTOR between his Laboratory and the Institut für Plamaphysik of the Research Centre in Jülich (Germany), which became in 1996 the Trilateral Euregio Cluster by the joining of the Dutch Rijnhuyzen Laboratory. In the same vein he became a respected member of the European negotiation team for ITER and continued to engage public interest in fusion research in general and in ITER in particular by numerous articles in newspapers and magazines.

He was the recipient of many awards and honors, was president of the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society (1973-1976), member of the Academia Europaea and was elevated by King Albert II of Belgium to the nobility rank of Knight in 1999.

This obituary is provided by
Prof. Emer. R. R. Weynants
Past-Director of LPP-ERM/KMS
e-mail: roger.weynants@skynet.be
tel. : 32-475595117