Two UW-Madison faculty to be honored by French government

Gilles Bousquet, dean of International Studies at the UW–Madison and David Trubek, Voss-Bascom Professor of Law and former dean of International Studies, will be honored by the French government, Thursday, Oct. 17, in a ceremony officiated by the French consul general in Chicago, Dominique Decherf. The ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. in room 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, on the UW–Madison campus. The public is invited to attend.

Bousquet and Trubek will be awarded l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, or the Order of Academic Palms, one of France’s most cherished awards for nearly 200 years. Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1808, the Palmes recognizes devotion and accomplishment in the areas of teaching, scholarship and research. The Palmes can be conferred on both French citizens and citizens of other countries who have contributed to the extension and appreciation of French culture around the world.

Bousquet, born in Algeria, raised in France and a Madison resident since 1982, is widely regarded as a leading innovator in international interdisciplinary education. Before being appointed dean of International Studies in January 2002, Bousquet served as chair of the Department of French and Italian. He is also the former director of the UW’s European Studies Program, one of four member programs of the European Studies Alliance.

Bousquet co-founded the Capstone Professional French Master’s Program, a professional degree track for students who want to use French in careers outside of academia. Through the construction of a public-private partnership, he was instrumental in establishing the UW’s Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies, one of about 20 such centers nationwide. He has published internationally on contemporary French social and cultural issues, as well as in language studies.

In recognition of his many contributions and the advancement of international collaboration for education and research, the French government awarded Bousquet the Ordre Nationale du Mérite with the rank of Chevalier earlier this year.

Trubek is an internationally known law scholar. He has published widely on the role of law in development, the social role of the legal profession, human rights, European integration, the impact of globalization on legal systems and social protection, social theory and critical legal studies.

A member of the UW–Madison faculty since 1973, Trubek built the Institute for Legal Studies at the UW Law School. He served as the dean of International Studies from 1990 to 2001; during this time he helped develop the International Institute, acting as its director from 1996-2001. He is the director of the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE), and co-director of the UW’s European Union Center. He has been a visiting scholar-in-residence at the Commission of the European Community; the European University Institute in Florence, Italy; the Cardozo Law School and New School for Social Research in New York; the Fundação Joaquim Nabuco in Brazil; and the Maison des Sciences de l‚Homme, in Paris, France. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for European Studies in Boston and Harvard Law School.

Before assuming his current post, Decherf was deputy head of personnel in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. His previous positions include service as deputy chief of mission in the French embassies in Abidjan, Riyadh, Ouagadougou, Dar es Salaam and Luanda. He has also served as deputy spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Paris and deputy consul general in Jerusalem. Before joining the French Foreign Service, Decherf was a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Lille.