Dirk Geeraerts

Dirk Geeraerts is a full Professor of Linguistics at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), where he has held a faculty position since 1993. He studied Germanic languages (Dutch and English) and holds a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, earning his PhD in 1981. His academic career includes professorships at the Kortrijk campus of the University of Leuven (1986–1993) and the University of Leiden (1985–1986), as well as foundational research at the Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie (1977–1985).

Research Focus: Geeraerts specializes in lexical semantics, lexicology, and cognitive linguistics, particularly examining social variation, diachronic change, and empirical semantic methods. His work bridges theoretical and applied lexicography, notably through his editorial role in the Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal (1995–2005).

Scientific Contributions:

• Founded the international journal Cognitive Linguistics
• Co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics
• Managing editor of the Cognitive Linguistics Research monograph series

Honors and Awards:

• 1978: L.K. Engels Award
• 1992: Flemish Government Award for Wat er in een woord zit
• 2003: Member of the Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature (KANTL)
• 2020: Matthias de Vries Medal for Dutch lexicology contributions

Labs and Teams: Established the Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL) research group at the University of Leuven, advancing empirical approaches to lexical and semantic studies.