TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Dr. Jean-Pierre Paelinck, secretary general of the European Investment Services Association, former secretary general of the Federation of European Stock Exchanges and a member of the International Advisory Board of The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, will give a public lecture on “Whither Europe: Prospects for the EU in the 21st Century,” on Monday, April 12, in the Forum Room of the Ferguson Center on campus from 4-5:30 p.m.

Paelinck first came to Alabama in 1982 as a visiting professor. The following year he was instrumental in the establishment of a link between the University and the Hautes Etudes Commerciales of Liége, Belgium.Through that arrangement, many Belgian students have studied on the UA campus and Alabama students have been hosted in Belgium. Key figures in the Belgian exchange program throughout the last 20 years have been Paelinck and his wife Hedwine, a retired French teacher.

Paelinck also organized a number of trade and business conferences for Alabama leaders, not only in Belgium, but in Hungary and Czechoslovakia just after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. He has a special interest in Central America, having been one of the founders and first president of the Belgian-Central American Chamber of Commerce, and presently serves as honorary consul for Guatemala in his hometown of Ghent. In recent months, he has served as special consultant in Algeria, Kosovo and a number of the emerging nations of Eastern Europe.

The program on April 12 is sponsored by several divisons and organizations at the University that focus on international affairs, including the Capstone International Center, the International Program Office of the College of Commerce, the International Honors Program, New College, the International Relations Program, the Alabama International Trade Center, the UA Emeritus Committee for International Strategic Studies, Rotaract, and the International Student Association.

Two UA faculty members will share the podium with Paelinck. Dr. Eric N. Baklanoff, research professor emeritus of economics, will comment on “Europe’s Demographic Future” and Dr. Benton Gup, professor and chair of banking, will focus on “The European Capital Market.” The presentations will be followed by a general discussion.

On Tuesday, April 13, Paelinck will be recognized as a Distinguished Honorary Visiting Professor by UA President Robert E. Witt.