Vrije Universiteit Brussel

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Wim Vandenbussche was born in Bruges in 1973.  He completed his studies in 'Germanic linguistics and literature  (Dutch-English)' at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1994 with a master's thesis on the language use of the Flemish right wing party Vlaams Blok (DOWNLOAD).  His 1999 PhD - A Study of the Written Language Use of the Lower Classes in Bruges during the 19th Century -was the first major study in historical sociolinguistics in the Dutch language area and was awarded the Linguistics Prize of the Royal Academy for Dutch Linguistics and Literature and the six-yearly Ingnace Vanderschueren Prize of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
His research is situated in the domain of historical sociolinguistics, with particular attention to the language situation in Flanders during the 18th and 19th century. 
Until October 2008, he was a postdoctoral research fellow of the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research and held a professorship in historical sociolinguistics.  In 2007 he was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London and a visiting professor at the Universiteit Gent.  In 2009 the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Arts and Science appointed him as Laureate in the Humanities as a recognition for his research career so far.
As a professor of Dutch linguistics, he is currently affiliated with the department of literature and linguistics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.  He teaches courses on Dutch and Germanic language history, as well as on various aspects of sociolinguistics.
He also is the director of the Centre for Linguistics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Further adminstration duties include memberships of the university board ('raad van bestuur') and university council ('bestuurscollege').
He is a member of the editorial board of the Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis / Revue belge de  philologie et d'histoire, Taal en Tongval, and of the e-journal Historical Sociolinguistics & Sociohistorical Linguistics. Among other affiliations, he is a board member of the 'Stichting Bibliographie Linguistique' and a founding member of HISON, the Historical Sociolinguistics Network.  In 2011 the Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters elected him as a foreign member.
A taste for fine dining, good wine and strong coffee is his weakness.