Vrije Universiteit Brussel

As a result of the students’ unrests in1969, the Universities of Brussels and Leuven were split into Flemish and  Walloon Universities. The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) was created and started in 1969. In 1970, I was appointed as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences of the VUB. I began teaching transport economics and policy and in 1973 my mandate was extended with economic and social aspects of ecology. My faculty created a post academic program on Industrial Location in which I taught the role of transport in industrial locations. This program was extremely interesting because the students who enrolled came from all over the world. In 1988, my mandate was once again extended; this time with lectures on European integration. In 2000 I played an active role in the setting-up of the post-academic Master on European Integration. In this master program, I lectured the Fundamentals of the European Communities as well as Innovation. In 2004, at the age of 65 I retired from the VUB. During my peak years at the VUB (the eighties) I had some 500 students who had to pass their exams for my courses. I suppose that in my 34 years lecturing at the VUB, some 8.000-10.000 students followed my courses. Without any doubt, the academic activities were a serious burden for me due to the fact that I had a full-time job in the EU-Commission at the same time. However, from an intellectual point of view it became a very rewarding job. The fact that I had the possibility to work with young people, most of whom were very motivated, gave me a lot of satisfaction. This was an unique opportunity I am grateful I did not miss.