Catherine Bréchignac (; born 12 June 1946) is a French

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

. She is a commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, "secrétaire perpétuel honoraire" of the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

and former president of the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

("National Centre for Scientific Research"). ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' says she has "a formidable reputation for determination, decisiveness and an aptitude for analysing and clarifying complex matters." As a president of the

, she was responsible for 25,000 employees, 12,000 of whom are researchers, and a budget of 2.42 billion

Euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

Biography

Daughter of the physicist Jean Teillac, Catherine Bréchignac entered the

École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sa ...

in 1967, she received her ''DEA'' (Masters-level qualification) at the '' Faculté des sciences d'Orsay'' in 1971, her doctorate in 1977, and became a Research Director in 1985. In 1989 she became director of the Aimé Cotton laboratory, and was Director General of the CNRS from 1997 to 2000. She clashed with

Claude Allègre Claude Allègre (; born 31 March 1937) is a French politician and scientist. Scientific work The main scientific area of Claude Allègre was geochemistry. Allègre co-authored an ''Introduction to geochemistry'' in 1974. Since the 1980s, he m ...

, the minister at the time, over reforms she oversaw at the institution. She became President of the ''Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée'' ("Institute of Optical Theory and Practice") in 2003 and of the ''Palais de la découverte'' ("Palace of Discovery") in 2004. In 2005 she was elected future president of the

International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

(ICSU). ICSU] She was appointed President of the CNRS at the Council of Ministers of 11 January 2006 on the recommendation of

François Goulard François Goulard (; born 21 September 1953 in Vannes) was a member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the Morbihan department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He has been appointed as minister of transp ...

, the minister for higher education and research. She was replaced by Alain Fuchs in 2010, even though she was a candidate to her own succession. She was "secrétaire perpétuel" (permanent secretary) of the Académie des sciences, Division 1, from 2011 to 2018.

Field

According to the International Council for Science, Bréchignac co-founded the field of cluster physics, which straddles the gap between atomic, molecular and solid-state physics. Clusters are "the precursors of nano-objects."

Other functions and honours

* President of the CNRS * Member of the Institute * President of the Board of the Palais de la Découverte * President of the

* Member of the Academy of Technologies * Director of

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

* "Commandeur" of the

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Décret du 18 avril 2014 portant promotion
''Journal officiel'' de la République française, n°0094, 20 April 2014, p. 6950 * Prix de l 'Académie des Sciences (1991) *

CNRS Silver medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is awarded to a researcher for "the originality, quality and importance of their work, re ...

(1994) * Correspondent member of the

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...

(1997) * Winner of the Holweck Medal (2003) * Member of the Academy of Sciences (2005) *

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

of the

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

(2003), the

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

Institute (2006) and the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern Franc ...

(2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brechignac, Catherine 1946 births Living people Members of the French Academy of Sciences French women physicists French women scientists Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni Scientists from Paris