Interview with the Director of the Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre
My experiences in both the public and private sectors at a national, European and international level, coupled with the privilege of having assisted exceptional leaders, have led me to share them and to make the FBL residents benefit from them.
The cultural mixing on a campus that is rich with architectural jewels, in a park with lush vegetation, a stone’s throw away from the best universities and schools in Paris, the Cité internationale’s campus is the ideal place for intellectual growth and for young people.
A solution must be found to a problem on the third floor: the Belgian physicist interviews the Luxembourgish legal practitioner who will consult with his roommate, a Japanese musician who will then open it up to his Argentinian friend, author and poet he met in the kitchen. The German philosophy student will surely consult with his Italian friend, a mathematician that he met last Thursday at the bar. The Greek doctor will fine tune this beautiful little world!
Openness to others which is self-explanatory!
François de Kerchove d’Exaerde, the Belgian Ambassador to France and president of the Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre, began his diplomatic career in 1989 after his studies in political science and international relations at the Université libre de Bruxelles and a master’s degree in economics at the London School of Economics.
His career has notably taken him to Kuwait, Tokyo, Osaka and also Berlin. In 2002, he undertook the general management of Egmont Institute, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ research centre. He then became the Deputy Director, then Director of Strategic Affairs, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2011 he was appointed as the Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) for the European Union before becoming Chief of Staff for Didier Reynders, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs.
He then served as the permanent representative to NATO. In 2018 he undertook the role of Belgian Ambassador to France and Monaco.
The Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris has been a living utopia for more than a century. It’s up to us to bring it to life with our Belgian and Luxembourgish students!