Walter Vermeulen

Dr. Walter J. Vermeulen is a Samoan / Belgian surgeon, farmer and environmentalist. He was born in Belgium and educated at the University of Brussels, the University of Liverpool and Hawaii. He worked for over ten years in the higher ranks of the Health Department, and then served as Director General of Health in Samoa from 1990 - 1994. He won the landmark case Vermeulen v. A-G & Others for wrongful dismissal from the Samoan government and Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Efi. The case has had bearing on administrative and constitutional law, especially in Commonwealth countries.After he left the Health Department he became involved in environmentalism, first as Executive Director of O Le Siosiomaga Society, Inc., and then as Executive Director of Matuaileoo Environment Trust Inc. (METI). He is a proponent of a sustainable development system known as the Integrated Biomass System (IBS). He is married to the former member for Aana No. 1 Matatumua Maimoaga.