Family Background, Early Life and Education

1914: Madeleine's maternal family fled Belgium due to the Prussian invasion during World War I. Her grandfather, Dieudonne, led the town's evacuation to France.

1930s: Her father, Noel Loontjens, a teacher and jazz pianist, traveled extensively across Europe and the U.S. before World War II. He observed political tensions, including attending a Hitler rally, and he realized the war was coming... This inspired him to move his family.

1935: Madeleine's father participated in the Gordon Bennett balloon race with Belgian  champion, Ernest Demuyter.

1939: Her parents met in Wavre, Belgium, just before World War II broke out. They married shortly after.

1940s: Madeleine grew up in France. Her father worked at the Belgian Embassy in Paris post-war, teaching languages and producing Flemish translations of U.S. newsreels.

1959: Madeline was only a teenager when she made her first trip to the U.S. as a teenager - an exchange student under a scholarship from American Friends Services, Wilmington Friends School.

1961 - 1968: She obtained multiple degrees from Lycee International, Institut des Sciences Politiques. She held a law degree in International Public Law from Faculte de Droit et des Sciences Economiques and a graduate degree in English and Comparative Literature from the Sorbonne. 

Professional Life and Key Events:

1971-1977: Madeleine started her justice career at the Manhattan Court Employment Program, a groundbreaking pretrial diversion initiative of the US Department of Labor (DOL) funded to the Vera Institute of Justice. She held a series of successively more responsible positions as CEP expanded into other boroughs, ending up as Deputy Director. Modelled on CEP and Project Crossroads in DC, DOL funded a second round of pretrial diversion programs across the country.

1977-1982: Vera had also been a pioneer in the bail reform movement which, in the 70’s, grew into a robust national movement to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention. In 1976, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) funded the national Pretrial Services Resource Center to provide leadership and support to this growing field of pretrial release and diversion. Madeleine was hired as the founding executive director and shaped a portfolio for PSRC that included research, technical assistance and training. She defined the consumers of PSRC services to include practitioners, elected officials, and the courts (including the judiciary, defense, and prosecution functions.) The Resource Center was an active participant in the National Coalition for Jail Reform and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA).

1982-1992: In the early eighties, as interest was growing in finding alternatives to court for resolving a range of conflicts, three major foundations came together to fund the National Institute of Dispute Resolution (NIDR). Madeleine was recruited to be the first President of NIDR. The organization was designated as a major grantmaker on behalf of the foundations, and undertook a range of initiatives to generate a better understanding and more extensive use of alternatives in many sectors of the United States.  

1993 - 2003: She began international consulting work starting with Haiti, where she worked on justice reform during the transitional government of President Aristide. Later on she worked on justice reform initiatives across Latin America, Eastern Europe (Romania, Croatia), and Mozambique among others.

2003-2009: Madeleine led the American Bar Association's justice reform program in Romania, mentoring local magistrates and legal professionals.

2009: She began working for the Open Society Foundations and launched the Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice.

Personal Life and Reflections

1968: Married Burrill Crohn and moved to NYC. The same year her father passed away unexpectedly. Madeleine frequently reflected on his influence and their shared love for jazz and culture.

1990s-2000s: Maintained a rich personal correspondence with close friends and colleagues, reflecting on her career and personal milestones.

2015: Retired from actives roles in OSF and international projects.

Later Years

2017: Decided against returning to Haiti due to safety concerns, marking a reflective phase in her career.

2020s: Continues sharing memories and experiences through letters, preserving and incredibly rich personal and family history.

* Special thanks to Laurie M. Roth for authoring this wonderful summary.