The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) is an educational charity. It supports the exchange of university students, scientists and scholars between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The foundation fosters the higher education of deserving Belgians and Americans through its exchange-fellowship program. Since 1977, Dr. Emile Boulpaep is the president of the BAEF.

History

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, from October 1914,

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

organized the

Committee for Relief in Belgium The Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB, or simply Belgian Relief) was an international, predominantly American, organization that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the First World War. It ...

(USA) and the ''Commission for Relief in Belgium'' (Belgium). After the war, the

University Foundation The Belgian University Foundation (French: ''Fondation Universitaire''; Dutch: ''Universitaire Stichting'') was founded in 1920. The goal of the Foundation, as was put forward by Émile Francqui, Emile Francqui, is to promote scientific activity a ...

, and on 9 January 1920, the B.A.E.F., were founded with the budget remaining in the hands of the commission after five years of relief work. The ''Belgian American Educational Foundation'' became the heir of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. After World War I, the BAEF invested in land and buildings for the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

(Solbosch campus) and also for rebuilding the library of the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

. In 1925, the BAEF founded the ''Hoover Foundation for the Development of the University of Brussels'' and the ''Hoover Foundation for the Development of the University of Leuven''. The BAEF started providing scholarships for students study abroad. Today, the Hoover Foundation is still divided into two entities: one is still dedicated to the

(ULB) and

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

(VUB) in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and the second and biggest one is dedicated to the development of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) primarily in

Louvain-la-Neuve Louvain-la-Neuve (; French for "New Leuven"; ) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was built to house th ...

and Brussels, and the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Notable alumni

Georges Lemaître Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître ( ; ; 17 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, and mathematician who made major contributions to cosmology and astrophysics. He was the first to argue that the ...

* Emile Boulpaep * Karel Bossart * Lotte Brand Philip * Eva Brems *

Albert Claude Albert Claude (; 24 August 1899 – 22 May 1983) was a Belgian- American cell biologist and medical doctor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with Christian de Duve and George Emil Palade. His elementary education sta ...

Alexander De Croo Alexander De Croo (; born 3 November 1975) is a Belgian politician and businessman who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025. Previously from 2012 to 2020, De Croo served as deputy prime minister in the governments of Elio Di Rup ...

Gaston Eyskens Gaston François Marie, Viscount Eyskens (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a Christian democracy, Christian democratic politician and prime minister of Belgium. He was also an economist and member of the Belgian Christian Social Party (Belg ...

Mark Eyskens Marc Maria Frans, Viscount Eyskens (born 29 April 1933), known as Mark Eyskens, is a Belgian economist, professor and politician in the Christian People's Party, now called Christian Democratic and Flemish, and briefly served as the prime mini ...

* Corneille Heymans * Jean Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers * Denis Wirtz * Pierre Wigny *

Paul van Zeeland Paul Guillaume, Viscount van Zeeland (11 November 1893 – 22 September 1973) was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 1935 to 1937. Biography van Zeeland was born in Soi ...

* Charles du Bus de Warnaffe

References

External links

Belgian American Educational Foundation

{{Authority control Foundations based in Belgium Academic transfer Education finance Student financial aid Scholarships Belgium–United States relations

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links