Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 1995, the late Professor Ferdinand Jan (Ferjan) Ormeling Jr. (1942–2025) was a distinguished Dutch cartographer and an influential figure in the international development of thematic cartography, atlas design, and toponymy. Born on 20 November 1942 in Utrecht into a family with a strong cartographic tradition, he was the son of Ferdinand Jan Ormeling Sr., a renowned cartographer and former President of the International Cartographic Association (ICA). After spending his early childhood in Indonesia, he returned to the Netherlands in 1955 and received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Human Geography from the University of Groningen in 1966 and 1969, respectively. Following early professional experience at Wolters-Noordhoff Atlas Productions, he joined Utrecht University in 1969 and remained there throughout his academic career. He received his Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 1983 for research on the representation of minority-language toponyms on topographic maps of Western Europe and served as Professor of Cartography from 1985 until his retirement in 2009. He subsequently continued his research through the Explokart Research Programme at Utrecht University and the University of Amsterdam. His international leadership included serving as Chair of the ICA Commission on Education and Training from 1987 to 1999 and Secretary-General and Treasurer of the ICA from 1999 to 2007. He also played a longstanding role in the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN), including as Convenor of its Working Group on Toponymic Training and Vice-Chair. His contributions were recognised by the ICA Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal, the Plancius Medal of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society, and the Mercator Medal of the German Cartographic Society, as well as honorary doctorates from Eötvös Loránd University and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.