According to foodtimeline.org:
The inventor of the Belgian waffle made famous by the 1964-65 New York World's Fair was Maurice Vermersch:
"Vermersch started making waffles from a recipe of his wife's when living in Belgium before the outbreak of World War II. After serving in the war, he started two restaurants in Belgium before making his World's Fair debut at the Brussels fair in 1960. Business went so well in Brussels that Vermersch and four other families decided to head to New York for the 1964 World's Fair. And when they arrived in Queens, the name of their product was changed from the Brussel Waffle to the Belgian Waffle. The name Belgian waffle was created in New York."
---"His waffles made memories at the Queens World's Fair," Newsday (Queens edition) August 22, 1989 (p. 21)