President Emmanuel Macron Visits Villa Albertine New York to Launch the Lafayette Fellowship
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan
By Villa Albertine
Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, presided over a special conversation with university students, presidents, provosts, and founding patrons of the newly created program
New York, September 30, 2025 – Villa Albertine was honored to welcome His Excellency, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, to officially launch the Lafayette Fellowship. The event featured a special conversation with 25 US university students, in front of presidents, provosts and leaders of college campuses, partners and founding patrons of the newly created program. The Lafayette Fellowship draws its name from the Marquis de Lafayette, who sailed from France to America to join its nascent revolution, and whose actions contributed vitally to the founding of the United States.
The delegation was welcomed by Mr. Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France in the United States and Director of Villa Albertine. Following Mr. Bouabdallah’s introduction, Mr. Macron delivered remarks on the nature of relations between the US and France, and the central role that education has in sustaining that relationship.
Mr. Macron drew parallels with the legacy of this important revolutionary figure and the laureates who will pursue their studies as Lafayette Fellows, inspiring “a new generation of Americans crossing the ocean, not to wage war, but to invent the future of science and culture together with a common ideal, the legacy of Lafayette, which is a legacy of enlightenment, and belief, precisely in reason, in culture, and in education.”
Addressing the students who will fulfill their potential, Mr. Macron stated, “You are invested in so many areas: in innovation, in academics, universities, and research. This new generation has a huge responsibility; to reinvent the common future and the future of transatlantic relations.”
In describing the intent behind the Lafayette Fellowship, Mr. Macron further explained that “the ambition is not just to train excellent scholars, but to shape leaders and bridge-builders.”
Mr. Macron then engaged in a Q&A session with the students present, who represented public and private universities in the Tri-State area, including Baruch College-CUNY, Columbia University, Fordham University, New York University, and Princeton University. Their questions touched upon topics including democracy, freedom of expression, innovation, sustainability, security, artificial intelligence, and the standing of the French language in global learning and culture.
About the Lafayette Fellowship
The Lafayette Fellowship is an initiative developed by the French Embassy in the United States and designed by Villa Albertine and France Science. Intended to nurture tomorrow’s leaders through a year of graduate study in France, the Lafayette Fellowship partners with leading French universities to offer courses in STEM, Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts. A leadership component is built into the program to offer mentorship and immersion. With studies available in French and in English, the Lafayette Fellowship will welcome its first cohort of fellows in Paris on July 4, 2026, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.
Applications for the Lafayette Fellowship are open until November 30, 2025 at 11:59pm ET.
Villa Albertine is deeply grateful to the founding patrons of the Lafayette Fellowship program: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Eric and Wendy Schmidt, The Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Hortense le Gentil-Joly and Hubert Joly – The Joly Family Foundation, Veronica Bulgari and Stephen Haimo, Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt, Reid Hoffman, David Sadroff, Fidji Simo, Fondation de Chambrun-Lafayette, Véronique and Jean-Hugues Monier, France and Cristofer Descours, and Gildo Pastor.
Revisit the special conversation with President Emmanuel Macron on the launch of the Lafayette Fellowship here: Launching the Lafayette Fellowship: President Emmanuel Macron Visits Villa Albertine New York – Villa Albertine
In partnership with
Embassy of France in the United States
To learn more about the French Embassy in the United States, click here.
France Science
The Office for Science and Technology (OST) of the Embassy of France in the United States is a network of 22 staff members spread across the entire U.S. In close collaboration with the main French research organizations represented at the Embassy, it addresses key scientific topics identified by joint French-American committees, and supports and promotes transatlantic research and innovation in these areas.