Prof. H.C.Hemker (1934) obtained his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After a training in paediatrics and chemical pathology, he became principle investigator in charge of Haemostasis and Thrombosis research at the University of Leiden (1962) and remained in that field since then.

He became Professor of internal medicine in Leiden in 1968 and, part time, at the free university of Brussels in 1972.
In 1973 he was asked by the Dutch Government to be responsible for basic sciences among the seven people who prepared the new medical faculty at Maastricht.
In 1975 he became chairman of the department of Biochemistry there. From 1982-1985 he was Rector Magnificus of that university. He is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1986.

Hemker has been visiting professor at the medical faculty of Paris (V and VI) and the “Collège de France” and affiliated professor at Mount Sinai Medical School (NY, USA).
Hemker is (co-)author of over 500 scientific articles in his domain of research and of several books. He received several prizes and awards as well as French and Dutch distinctions.

Since his retirement from his university chair (1999), he became head of a research group within the CArdiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM) and director of Synapse b.v., the scientific consultation and development company owned by the University of Maastricht.