Harvard Boas Scholars » New Boas Scholars

The new Boas Scholars introduce themselves! – Tom Vos

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:09:28 +0000

I am currently a PhD Candidate at the KU Leuven (Belgium). I also did the research master in law at the KU Leuven, where I specialized in business law and tax law. Currently, my research is in the field of corporate law, and more specifically about the protection of shareholder against dilution when corporations issue shares to investors. In my research, I compare the law in Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. This was also one of the main reason for enrolling in the LL.M. program at Harvard Law School, to learn more about corporate law in the United States.
Since my studies, I have also been interested in negotiation and I founded a student association about negotiation. Nowadays, I regularly teach students about negotiation and mediation. As Harvard has been described as the “birthplace of negotiation theory”, I am very enthusiastic about learning more about negotiation during my time at Harvard.
In my spare time, I like reading, traveling and playing guitar. I have always been fascinated by American music and literature, and I am very excited about discovering more about the United States during my LL.M next academic year and during my travels in this period.

The new Boas Scholars introduce themselves! – Laurens De Poorter

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:08:24 +0000

I am part of the MBA Class of 2020 at Harvard Business School. I was born and raised close to Antwerp, Belgium. Even as a child, I was fascinated how technology had such a big positive impact in our world. After finishing my secondary education in Mathematics and Sciences at Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in West-Malle, I commenced my engineering studies at KU Leuven. By studying to be an engineer, I wanted to make my own contribution to a better world.
In the summer after my Bachelor studies, I went to Peru to build a wind turbine to provide electricity to a local school. During this life-changing experience I realized that if you combine technology with a profitable business model, you can scale and have a much larger impact. I became a strong advocate of social entrepreneurship in which business is used to address one of society’s social challenges.
Immediately after my exchange year at Imperial College London, I founded Academics For Development (AFD) in Leuven. AFD is a student-led non-profit organization that allows students to help social entrepreneurs in developing countries start or grow their social businesses. The novel concept attracted large interest from students and academic institutions as well as social entrepreneurs and non-profits. Today, our organization has expanded to Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium), Utrecht (Netherlands) and Stellenbosch (South-Africa). In total, more than 150 university students have worked on more than 35 projects across Africa, Asia and South-America.
After working as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for almost 4 years to hone my business skills, I will now start my MBA at Harvard Business School (HBS). In parallel to pushing the growth of AFD to the next level and expanding the organization to North-America, I would like to explore further opportunities to leverage business and technology in order to – and fully in line with HBS’s mission – become a leader who makes a difference in the world. To get there, I hope to build upon the solid academic foundation in business, as well as the entrepreneurial eco-system, resources and network of HBS and the wider Harvard community.
In my leisure time, I love sailing and kitesurfing in summer and skiing in winter. I am an avid traveler, and hope the move to Boston will enable me to explore more of the Americas – both up North as well as down South. Finally, I am a true bon vivant when it comes to food and drinks, and enjoy spending my time with friends and family.

The new Boas Scholars introduce themselves! – Friso Bostoen

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:06:45 +0000

I feel immensely privileged to be a part of Harvard’s LL.M. class of 2019 as a Boas scholar. I obtained my initial master’s degree at KU Leuven in 2016 and started working as a Ph.D. researcher at my alma mater immediately afterwards. My research focuses on the application of antitrust law to online platforms (such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook). While my enthusiasm for law and technology will be duly reflected in my course schedule, I equally look forward to gaining broader perspectives on the U.S. legal system. During my year in Cambridge, I also hope to explore more of the fascinating country that is the United States.

The new Boas Scholars introduce themselves! – Bram Devolder

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:05:23 +0000

After obtaining my law degree at Ghent University in 2015, I became a teaching assistant at KU Leuven (Centre for Methodology of Law) and started my doctoral research on regulatory disruption by the sharing economy under the supervision of Dean Bernard Tilleman. The focal point of my research is situated on the interface between contract law, economic regulation, law and technology, and law and economics. By pursuing an LL.M. degree at Harvard Law School, I aim to take my research to a higher level through increased knowledge of the U.S. legal system and improved skills in legal methodology. Being submerged in the profound interdisciplinarity of scholarship at Harvard will help me to become a more mature legal scholar.
Having read the testimonials of past BOAS scholars, I am convinced that spending an academic year in Cambridge is about much more than taking courses in my area of interest. Harvard is well-renowned for its social events, such as daily lunch seminars where influential scholars from around the world discuss their latest research results. I look forward to discussing preliminary ideas with renowned experts and meeting international students and scholars with similar interests in the implications of technology for law and society. It would be an honor if I could make a humble contribution to the intellectual and social life at Harvard Law School.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to pursue graduate studies at Harvard with the support of the Boas program. It is both an enormous privilege and an astounding responsibility to join the impressive family of Boas scholars. I have the ambition to make a difference in the world by giving back to society, and hope to live up to the examples set by past Boas scholars.