Georges Stoops contributed substantially to the understanding of the genesis of arid and tropical soils, and to the development of concepts and terminology for the description of soil thin sections. His outstanding research activities in an international context, contributed considerably to the development of soil micromorphology, while his enthusiastic teaching in Ghent and elsewhere promoted the use of soil micromorphology worldwide. His achievements have been honoured for instance by the Kubiëna Medal of the International Soil Science Society (1992) and the Philippe Duchaufour Medal of the European Geosciences Union (2010)..