Herman Van Rompuy, Belgian academic and politician, 66th Prime Minister of Belgium
Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɛrmɑɱ vɑn ˈrɔmpœy]; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent President of the European Council from 2009 to 2014.
A politician from Belgium's Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Van Rompuy served as the 49th prime minister of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until Yves Leterme (who was also his predecessor) succeeded him on 25 November 2009. On 19 November 2009 Van Rompuy was selected by the members of the European Council, which is the institution of the European Union (EU) comprising the heads of state or government of the EU member states, as the first full-time President of that Council under the Treaty of Lisbon. He was appointed for the period from 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012, though he only took up his position officially on 1 January 2010. On 1 March 2012 he was re-elected for a second (and last) term, to last from 1 June 2012 until 30 November 2014. He was appointed chairman of the board of the College of Europe in 2019.