Effective January 1, 2025, FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute (ULB & VUB) will be led by a new board of academic directors: Geoffrey Aerts, Tom Lenaerts, Gregory Lewkowicz, and Ann Nowé. The board provides strategic oversight, ensuring that FARI’s research, education and, services and initiatives align with its mission to advance ethical and interdisciplinary research and applications of AI, data, and robotics for to the benefit of society. 

The three new academic directors are:  

– Geoffrey Aerts (Vrije Universiteit Brussel): Geoffrey Aerts is the Director of the VUB Business Development Academy (BUDA), professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the VUB campus in Jette and a board member at ICAB – Business and Technology Incubator. His work focuses on knowledge management, stakeholder management, and innovation ecosystems, with an emphasis on optimizing research valorization and fostering innovation within urban and economic contexts. 

– Tom Lenaerts (Université Libre de Bruxelles): Tom Lenaerts co-heads the ULB Machine Learning Group and is also partially affiliated to the VUB AI lab and the Center for Human-Compatible AI of UC Berkeley. He was until recently the chair of the Benelux AI Society and is nominated as expert in the Global partnership on AI. His research has always been interdisciplinary, focussing on topics at the intersection of AI and Machine Learning on the one hand and health, social and cognitive sciences on the other hand. Current topics include novel approaches to collective intelligence, cooperative problem solving, mitigation of biases in data, evolutionary dynamics, predictive medicine and explanatory AI. 

– Gregory Lewkowicz (Université Libre de Bruxelles): Gregory Lewkowicz is director of the Smart Law Hub and member of the Perelman Center. His research examines the dynamic interplay between law and digital technologies, focusing on the application of artificial intelligence in the legal domain, the regulation of data and AI, and the advancement of computational law. He has extensive experience advising organizations and training executives on digital strategy, policy, and compliance.

They joined Ann Nowé (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), head of the AI LAB, who continues her role at FARI, contributing to the academic direction of the institute and ongoing initiatives. 

We thank Hugues Bersini (Université Libre de Bruxelles) for his leadership and dedication as academic director, which have been central to the development and success of FARI since its foundation. We look forward to his continued contributions to FARI through ongoing collaborations and strong professional ties. 

FARI looks forward to working with this new team to advance its research and initiatives. Their expertise will play a key role in guiding the academic trajectory of the institute and furthering our mission of applying artificial intelligence for the Common Good.