"THE UNIVERSE IS CHANGE; OUR LIFE IS WHAT OUR THOUGHTS MAKE IT" - Marcus Aurelius
Lode De Waele is an Assistant Professor at the Utrecht University School of Governance (USG), where he conducts research on integrity, governance, strategic human resource management, organizational resilience, and public sector reform. His work focuses on how organizations can effectively manage integrity risks, foster ethical behaviour, and navigate increasingly complex societal challenges.
He obtained his PhD from the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). Prior to joining academia in 2013, he worked in the public sector as an accountant, cabinet advisor, and senior consultant, providing him with extensive practical experience in public administration and governance.
Lode currently serves as Action Chair of the European COST Action HIRAM (High Impact Research on Adherence and Morality), a pan-European research network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). Bringing together researchers and practitioners from across Europe, HIRAM aims to advance the scientific understanding and practical management of integrity risks in both public and private organizations. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of an NWO Medium Grant on ethics management and organizational integrity. From 2023-2025, he also served as conference manager of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM).
In addition to his appointment at Utrecht University, Lode is Visiting Professor at both the University of Antwerp and the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he is also affiliated with the Doctoral School and contributes to doctoral education and international research collaboration.
His research has been published in leading international journals in public management, higher education, organizational studies, and psychology. He is actively involved in several international research networks and regularly reviews for high-impact academic journals such Public Management Review, Public Administration and Motivation and Emotion. His current research combines organizational theory, behavioural public administration, institutional theory, and strategic HRM to address issues such as corruption, integrity systems, organizational misconduct, and ethics management.
Throughout his academic career, Lode has taught a broad portfolio of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses, including Management and Organization, Strategic Management, Organization Studies, Strategic Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Public Problems, European and International Environments, and Behavioural Public Administration.
From 2023 to 2025, he served as Conference Manager of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM), the world's leading scholarly association in the field of public management.
Beyond academia, Lode regularly contributes to public debate through opinion articles in national newspapers on governance, integrity, sustainability, and public sector reform. In 2019, he co-founded the think tank Eleni, which develops evidence-informed perspectives on ecological, fiscal, and geopolitical challenges.
He is also the founder of Sensello, a company that develops integrated SaaS solutions for compliance, ethics, and integrity risk management across the public sector and highly regulated industries.