Borgman was born in
Groningen on 30 November 1929. As a high school student Borgman together with
Maarten Schmidt knocked on the door of the Groningen astronomical laboratory, to be informed by
Adriaan Blaauw of the possibilities of a study of astronomy. Borgman studied astronomy at the
University of Groningen. Together with
Pieter Johannes van Rhijn he did research on
interstellar reddening with the use of the university telescope. In 1956 Borgman obtained his PhD in
photometry under Hendrik Brinkman, with a dissertation titled
Electronic scanning for variable stars. He became
lector in the field of astronomy in 1964. During this time he had to reorganize the underlying institutions. From 1994 to 1997 Borgman was the first chairman of the
European Commission European Science and Technology Assembly. Borgman was elected a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1978. ==References==