1950
Born to Frederic May and Valentine (Van der Vennet) May in Elisabethville, Congo.
1967
Graduates Saint-Boniface High School in Brussels, Belgium.
1973
Earns a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in modern history from the Catholic University of Louvain.
1974
Serves as the president of the Olivaint Conference of Belgium in Brussels, Belgium.
1975
Earns a graduate diploma in demography from Catholic University of Louvain.
1976
Marries Anne Marie Legrand on October 23.
1985
Earns a Master of Arts in demography, magna cum laude, from Catholic University of Louvain.
1987
Immigrates to the United States.
1996
Earns a Doctor of Philosophy in demography, summa cum laude, from the Universit̩ Ren̩ Descartes РParis V Sorbonne.
2000
Is the senior population specialist (open-ended) for the Africa Region at The World Bank in Washington, D.C. until 2008.
2008
Is the lead population specialist (open-ended) for the Africa Region at The World Bank in Washington, D.C. until 2012.
2008
Teaches as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University until 2019.
2012
Is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD) in Washington, D.C.
2013
Is a visiting scholar with the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) in Washington, D.C. until 2017.
2015
Becomes a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development in Berlin, Germany.
2016
Becomes a member of the Scientific Advisory Council, POPDEVINTER, in Paris, France.
2018
Becomes a senior fellow at The Population Institute in Washington, D.C. and maintains this role.
2020
Becomes a research professor at George Mason University in Arlington, VA and maintains this role.