The Fulbright Commission in Brussels is proud to celebrate the accomplishments of the thousands of alumni who have participated in Fulbright exchanges to and from Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Union over the past seventy years. In addition to providing resources for continued engagement to alumni of our programs, the Fulbright Commission in Brussels also engages with alumni of other Fulbright Programs from around the world whose personal and professional journeys have brought them to the international capital of Europe.
Belgian and Luxembourg Fulbright alumni are successful in every profession imaginable, including law, science, medicine, business, politics, and the creative arts. They are often leaders and innovators in their fields. While the list below is by no means exhaustive, here are just some of our many prominent alumni.
Notable alumni
1950s
Jean Hamilius
Cornell University (1950-51)
Luxembourgish politician, including: Minister for Agriculture, Public Works (1974-79) and Member of the European Parliament (1979-81)
Mariette, Baronne Delahaut
Graceland College (1953-54) and Arizona State University (1964-65)
After coming of age during World War II, Mariette Delahaut first worked with Americans as a translator for the U.S. Army. The Fulbright Program took her to Graceland College in 1953 and again to Arizona State University in 1964. Over the course of her long career in education, based primarily in Namur, she opened three different secondary schools, with an emphasis on bettering educational opportunities for girls and marginal students. She received the title of baroness in 2017 in recognition of her work.
Pol Descamps
Harvard University (1958-59)
Senior Strategic Advisor, Howest
1960s
Herman De Croo
University of Chicago (1961-62)
Belgian politician, including: Member of the Flemish Parliament and the Open VLD
Georges, Count Jacobs de Hagen
UC Berkeley (1962-63)
Businessman, including: Chairman, Board of Directors of Delhaize Group and Chairman, Board of Directors of UCB Group
François-Xavier De Donnea
UC Berkeley (1964-65)
Belgian politician, including: Former mayor of the City of Brussels and Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region
1970s
Paul De Grauwe
Johns Hopkins University (1970-71)
Belgian economist and John Paulson Professor in European Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Herman Daems
Harvard University (1971-72) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1981-82)
Chairman of the Board, BNP Paribas Fortis, KU Leuven and BARCO
Koen Lenaerts
Harvard Law School (1977-78)
President, European Court of Justice
As a Fulbright grantee in the 1970s, Koen Lenaerts received a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, where he studied alongside John Roberts, the future chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, Dr. Lenaerts gives back to the Fulbright Program by welcoming U.S. Fulbrighters to the European Court of Justice during the annual Fulbright Seminar on the European Union and NATO.
Johan Verbeke
Yale Law School (1977-78)
Belgian diplomat, including: Belgian Ambassador to the USA (2014-16)
1980s
Charles Beauduin
Harvard University (1985-86)
CEO and owner of Michel Van de Wiele NV
Luc Frieden
Harvard University (1987-88)
Luxembourgish politician, including: Minister of Finance, Minister of Defense, Minister of Justice, Vice Chairman, Deutsche Bank
Peter Leys
University of Georgia (1987-88)
Director and Executive Chairman, Materialise
1990s
Pierre Wunsch
Princeton University (1990-91)
Governor of the National Bank of Belgium
Pierre Vandekerckhove
University of Hawaii and NYU Medical Center (1990-91)
CEO, Belgian Red Cross – Flanders
Petra De Sutter
Reproductive Genetics Institute (1991-92)
Professor in Gynaecology, Department Head at the Ghent University Hospital and Senator for the Flemish Green party Groen
Koenraad, Baron Debackere
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1991-92)
Professor and Managing Director at KU Leuven
Sylvie Van den Kerkhof
University of Chicago (1992-93)
Vice President of Marketing, UPS
Françoise Thoma
Harvard University (1995-96)
Director, Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat
Peter Vandermeersch
Harvard University (1997-98)
Journalist
Gregoire Dallemagne
University of Chicago (1998-99)
CEO, EDF Luminus
David Moucheron
Columbia University (1999-00)
Member of the Executive Committee, CBC Banque, CEO of bpost (former)
2000s
Alexander De Croo
Northwestern University (2002-03)
Belgian politician, including: Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Minister of Finance of Belgium
Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort
New England Conservatory (2006-07)
Belgian concert pianist, including: Finalist, 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition
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