Armand H. Delsemme made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the composition of comets, the physical nature of their activity, and their important role in the origin of the solar system. Armand started his formal scientific education at the University of Liège, Belgium, from 1936 to 1940, where he studied molecular spectroscopy, with the goal of becoming an astronomer. While a student at the University, he founded the Astronomical Society of Liège (SAL), which still exists today and has nearly 600 members. His Master’s thesis was on the FeO spectrum. After World War II, where he was active in the Allied underground effort, he worked full time as a researcher in industry and pursued a PhD in molecular spectroscopy back at the University of Liège.