For release on:
8 October 2007

For more information contact:
Joe Patterson, PMI Public Relations
Project Management Institute
+1-610-356-4600 ext. 1112
joseph.patterson@pmi.org

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA – Project Management Institute (PMI^®), the world’s leading membership association for the project management profession, has awarded Louis J. Mercken of Belgium  with the
PMI Fellow Award -- PMI’s highest and most prestigious honor. The Fellow Award recognizes a
PMI member who has made sustained and significant contributions to PMI and the project management profession for more than a decade.  

Mercken is an international and founding partner in Threon Europe, an international company that provides management consulting and project management excellence education and coaching. He assists organisations in the implementation of project management culture through consulting, training and coaching, linking program and project management with strategy.

A member of PMI since 1995, Mercken was a member of the global PMI Board of Directors for the period 2002 to 2004, and as PMI Vice-Chair he was a member of the PMI Governance Committee. He was re-elected to the PMI Board for a second term from 2005 to 2007 and in 2005 became the first non-North American PMI Chair.  He was the founding vice president of the BMI Benelux Chapter, Belgium, and then the president of the Benelux Chapter.

He is the former chief information officer of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) European operations, worldwide general manager of information systems for the Union Minière Group (today Umicore), and has held senior and executive management positions in information technology and finance for Exxon.

Mercken is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP^®) and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, an MBA in finance/accounting and operations research and an additional degree in computer sciences. In 1982, he completed the INSEAD Management Program and the IMEDE (Switzerland) extended program for finance for non-finance executives.

From 1997 to 2000, he was visiting professor of Project Management Excellence at the Institut International des Projets, a branch of the Université Léonard de Vinci in La Défense, Paris. Currently he is executive professor for the Certified Project Manager program of UAMS (University Antwerp Management School).

PMI Fellow Awards  were presented on 6 October 2007 during the 2007 Awards Ceremony held in conjunction with the PMI Global Congress—North America in Atlanta.  

About PMI

With nearly 250,000 members in more than 160 countries, Project Management Institute (PMI^®) is the leading membership association for the project management profession. PMI is actively engaged in leading the profession by setting professional standards, conducting research and providing access to a wealth of information and resources. PMI also promotes career and professional development and offers certification, networking and community involvement opportunities. For more than 38 years, PMI has advanced the careers of practitioners who have made project management indispensable in achieving business results. Please visit www.pmi.org for more information.