Franz Thomas Bruss (born 1949[1] in Kleinblittersdorf, Germany[2]), is a Belgian-German professor of mathematics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He is director of "Mathématiques Générales" and co-director of the probability chair.
His main research activities in mathematics are in the field of probability:
Bruss studied mathematics at the Universities Saarbrücken, Cambridge and Sheffield. In 1977 he obtained the Dr. rer. nat in Saarbrücken with his thesis Hinreichende Kriterien für das Aussterben von Modifizierten Verzweigungsprozessen (Sufficient conditions for the extinction of Branching Processes) under Professor Gerd Schmidt, and the legal Dr. en sciences of Belgium one year later.[3] After a scientific career at the University of Namur he moved to the United States and taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Arizona, Tucson, and University of California at Los Angeles. In 1990 he returned to Europe and became Professor of Mathematics at Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and in 1993 at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He held visiting positions at the Universities of University of Strathclyde, Zaire, University of Antwerp, Purdue University, and the Université Catholique de Louvain.
Bruss is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and Member of the Tönissteiner Kreis e.V., Germany. He received the Jacques Deruyts Price for Mathematics 2000-2004 from the Belgian Academy of Science. In 2011, he was honored Commandeur de Order of Leopold of Belgium.