Robert Van Straelen was born in
Borgerhout to Paul Verstraelen, Director of the
Banque Belgolaise in Antwerp, and Leopoldina Vinsolest from Borgerhout. Van Straelen attended the St. Edmondus Institute in Antwerp, and the St. Jan Berchmanscollege. In 1952 he started to study at the Sint-Ignatius Handelshogeschool (later part of the
University of Antwerp), where in 1957 he received his degree cum laude. In 1958 he received another degree and a Special Licence at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. There in 1968 he was granted a colloquium doctum with a thesis entitled "Prijsontwikkeling en produktiestructuur: proeve tot formulering van een stochastisch model voor produktiecoëfficiënten." In 1959 Van Straelen started his career in industry as business economist at a chemical company in Antwerp. The same year
Fernand Nédée (1930–1980), later the founder of the University Institution Antwerp, invited him to join the research center "Studiecentrum voor de Expansie van Antwerpen". In 1961 he started as director of the new department of
econometrics at the
Sint-Ignatius Handelshogeschool. In 1963 he also succeeded
Vic van Rompuy as lecturer, and was appointed member of the
Federal Planning Bureau in Brussels. In 1968 Van Straelen became associate professor at the Faculty for Applied Economics at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Later he was appointed Professor at the Department of Applied Economics at the
University of Antwerp and at the
Antwerp Management School. There in 1996 he initiated a study of Real estate. Van Straelen was elected fellow at the
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. ==Selected publications==