Professor Alberto Alemanno: One of the European Union’s 40 Brightest Minds

HEC Paris Professor Alberto Alemanno has been named as one of the European Union’s 40 brightest minds by the "40 UNDER 40" - European Young Leaders program which aims to shape Europe's future.

Alberto Alemanno is recognized as a "Public interest lawyer, academic entrepreneur and one of the leading experts in the areas of EU law and policy, risk regulation and global health", whilst he is launching the first EU legal clinic and the first MOOC devoted to European affairs on Coursera.

With the European Elections fast approaching, the “40 UNDER 40” has named Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at HEC Paris, as one of its European Young Leaders. He features alongside a selection of other notable figures from 20 European countries, all of whom have a wide range of backgrounds in areas such as politics, business, arts and culture, as well as academia and media.

For Professor Alemanno, this distinction comes at a time of much excitement and success in terms of his pioneering projects. Just this week, he launched the first EU legal clinic dedicated to European Policy and Regulatory Affairs, with the support of HEC Paris and New York University (NYU). In addition to this, he will be sharing his knowledge and expertise on European Affairs with a vast, global audience, as of February 18th, when the first HEC Paris MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) will commence on the Coursera platform. Students at the legal clinic will have the opportunity to share real-life examples with MOOC participants, test out their ideas, and potentially crowdsource, before finalizing their submission to EU policy makers.

The “40 UNDER 40” are inspiring young experts, who will help to overcome one of the major obstacles to an effective and sustainable Europe: a lack of collective vision. Together, they will help to promote a European identity and provide new ideas for shaping its future. They met together for the first of two three-day seminars in Brussels between 30th January and 1st February 2014. The seminar was organized by the think-tanks EuropaNova and Friends of Europe, and aims to examine current affairs affecting both European countries and their citizens, discuss the European project with decision-makers and experts, and reflect upon the future of the continent in order to propose a new European “software”.

The 2014 selection include: Joao Almeida, Secretary of State for Internal administration, Portugal; Danae Bezantakou, Director, Navigator Shipping Ltd. and Greek Food Obsession, Greece; Soulaima Gourani, Keynote speaker, author and advisor, Denmark; Guillaume Liegey, Co-founder, Liegey Muller Pons, France; Antonia Meszaros, Journalist, Hungary; Michal Szczerba, Member of the Polish Sejm; and Ivana Sendecka, Founder, Next Generation Leaders of Slovakia, Slovakia.