Rectoral Council

Evelyne Léonard is a specialist in human resource management and organisational analysis, fields in which she has conducted research and taught for more than 20 years.

Since the beginning of her UCL career in 1996, she has taught human resource management and social relations to several thousand students. She directed or co-directed numerous research projects, many of them European in scope, on issues of work and social relations. She served several internal mandates, including serving as president of the Labour Science School and as vice-dean of the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences and Communication.

Across the many facets of her profession, she addresses people management issues from an organisational perspective, which has led her to focus on how workplace contexts (structure, work organisation, hierarchical relationships, etc.) give rise to the situations encountered by staff while doing their jobs. Her conviction: one must first address these contexts in order to change the organisation to the benefit of both staff and the university.

Holder of a doctorate in medicine from UCL, Jean-Christophe Renauld conducted fundamental research at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and as an FNRS (Belgian Fund for Scientific Research) research associate. He teaches immunology in the UCL Faculty of Medicine and his research has led to the discovery of cytokines, such as interleukin-9 (IL-9), and of their roles in various pathologies including asthma and psoriasis. He has received several research awards including the 2000 InBev Baillet-Latour International Award in Health.

Dana Samson specialises in cognitive neuropsychology. After earning a doctorate in psychological sciences from UCL in 2001, she pursued her academic career in England, then in 2010 returned to UCL as a Francqui associate professor. Since 2012, she has been a professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences. In addition to her research, she helps manage several scientific societies in England and Belgium. Since her return to UCL, she has also participated in reforming her faculty’s study programmes. She formerly headed the Bachelor of Psychological and Education Sciences Committee and the Master of Psychological Sciences Committee. In 2014, she joined the UCL Research Board. International mobility has played a key role in her career. She completed several months of training in Colombia and England, and pursued an eight-year academic career at two British universities (University of Birmingham and University of Nottingham). After her return to UCL, she participated in two international mobility programmes with, respectively, Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University and Budapest’s Central European University.

For Pro-Rector Samson, an international perspective is essential to preparing students to think and act in a globalised world. It also drives innovation in teaching, research and community service. In accordance with the Louvain 2020 strategic plan, the pro-rector’s role is to prioritise the international and intercultural perspectives in study programmes, promote student and staff mobility, reinforce UCL’s international drawing power, and support collaborative international development initiatives. The role also entails managing the logistics of international activities, especially the reception of international students and staff.

The pro-rector for international affairs chairs the International Action Committee.