Luc Soete (Brussels, 1950) is Rector Magnificus of Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Professor Soete is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and the Advisory Council for Science and Technology Policy (AWT). He is Chairman of the High Level Group “Research, Innovation and Science Policy Experts”(RISE) at the European Commission).

Professor Soete completed his first degrees in economics and development economics at the University of Ghent, Belgium, before obtaining his PhD in economics at the University of Sussex. He worked at the Department of Economics of the University of Antwerp, the Institute of Development Studies and the Science Policy Research Unit both at the University of Sussex, and the Department of Economics at Stanford University. In 1986, he was appointed Professor of International Economic Relations at Maastricht University.

In 2002, he was awarded the Maastricht School of Management Honorary Fellow Award. In 2006 he obtained the Commander in the Order of the Crown, a national decoration of Belgium. In 2010 he received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Ghent and in 2013 a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Liège.

Luc Soete published extensively on the economics of innovation and technological change as well as the related policy and measurement issues.