Jacques Prost, born in 1946 in

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...

, is a French physicist, former General director of

École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris ESPCI Paris (officially the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la Ville de Paris; ''The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution'') is a prestigious grande école founded in 1882 by ...

, member of the

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

. Alumni of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud (sciences) (1965), Jacques Prost studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and founded and head (1987–1995) the "Theoretical Physico-Chemistry" Group of the ESPCI ParisTech under the direction of

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (; 24 October 1932 – 18 May 2007) was a French physicist and the Nobel Prize laureate in physics in 1991. Education and early life He was born in Paris, France, and was home-schooled to the age of 12. By the age of ...

. His group studied

liquid crystal Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. T ...

and soft matter properties. In 1996, he founded the group "Physical Chemistry Curie" lab at the

Curie Institute (Paris) Centre of protontherapy Institut Curie is one of the leading medical, biological and biophysical research centres in the world. It is a private non-profit foundation operating a research center on biophysics, cell biology and oncology and a ho ...

. His group studies physical approaches to biological problems and describes cell motion,

molecular motors Molecular motors are natural (biological) or artificial molecular machines that are the essential agents of movement in living organisms. In general terms, a motor is a device that consumes energy in one form and converts it into motion or mecha ...

, the properties of

biological membrane A biological membrane, biomembrane or cell membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that separates the interior of a cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments by serving as a boundary between one part of the ce ...

s and

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

adhesion. Jacques Prost was the scientific advisor to

Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total in ...

from 1990 to 1999. He is a member of the

since 2007. Jacques Prost has been the General director of

ESPCI ParisTech ESPCI Paris (officially the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la Ville de Paris; ''The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution'') is a prestigious grande école founded in 1882 by ...

, since 2003. He is the recipient of the 2024

Lars Onsager Prize The Lars Onsager Prize is a prize in theoretical statistical physics awarded annually by the American Physical Society. Prize recipients receive a medal, certificate, and $10,000. It was established in 1993 by Drs. Russell and Marian Donnelly in m ...

in theoretical statistical physics by the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, for

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prost, Jacques People from Bourg-en-Bresse 1946 births French physicists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Harvard University alumni Living people Academic staff of ESPCI Paris Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite