Claude Janssen, Trustee Emeritus and Dear Friend of AUBG, Passed Away
The AUBG community mourns the loss of long-standing AUBG University Council and former Board of Trustees member Claude Janssen. He died on March 27, 2021.
Janssen first joined the Board in 1999 and served until 2006 when he became the university’s first Trustee Emeritus. He spent the following 15 years on the University Council.
Janssen dedicated not only time and effort to the development of AUBG, generously contributing to various causes, among them the Stephane Groueff Distinguished Endowed Scholarship and the annual UC Essay Contest.
“Claude Janssen was a staunch supporter of education across the board,” said Victoria Entwistle, Acting Chair of the AUBG Board of Trustees. “Claude's legacy is, however, with us and it is up to us to continue ‘acting’ in the same way he would have done.”
Janssen is best known as the founder of INSEAD, a graduate-only business school with campuses all over the world. There he was a member of the Advisory Committee (1959-1970), Executive Deputy Chairman of the Board (1971-1982) and Chairman of the Board from 1982 to 2004. He was Honorary Chairman of the Board as well as Honorary Chairman of the International Council.
“Please join me in celebrating the life of one of our founding fathers. Claude Janssen empowered and inspired generations of business leaders and his legacy will live on as long as the INSEAD spirit does,” said INSEAD Dean Ilian Mihov in a message to alumni.
Along with education, Janssen was a great champion for the arts, co-founding Friends of the Paris Opera in 1980 and chairing the International Council of "Les Arts Décoratifs", one of the leading museums in Paris, from 1997 to 2013.
He was Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, as well as Commander of Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur – the country’s highest order of merit.