Belgian-born American industrial chemist.

Baekeland graduated from the University of Ghent in 1882, receiving his PhD in electrochemistry from Charlottenburg Polytechnic in 1884. He was appointed Professor of Physics and Chemistry at the University of Bruges in 1887 and returned to Ghent in 1888 as Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

In 1889 he married his professor's daughter and travelled to the United States where he began working as a photographic chemist. He moved to New York in 1891 to set up a laboratory and consultancy. During this time he developed Velox, a type of photographic printing paper which could be developed under artificial light. He sold this invention and his company to the Kodak Corporation in 1899 and returned Europe to further his studies.

On his return to the USA he began investigating the use of phenol-formaldehyde resins as a replacement for shellac. He found that the resin could be produced in a hard form, which could be moulded, cast and machined. It was extremely durable and a good insulator, ideal for use in the newly developing electrical industry. In 1909 Baekeland introduced this new product to the public as Bakelite. It was a great success. He was elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1924.