Catherine Bréchignac | |
|---|---|
 Catherine Bréchignac in 2006 | |
| Born | (1946-06-12)12 June 1946 (age 79) |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure de Lyon Faculté des sciences d'Orsay |
| Awards | Grand Officier of theLégion d'honneur Many others, see article |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | CNRS |
Catherine Bréchignac (French pronunciation:[katʁinbʁeʃiɲak]ⓘ; born 12 June 1946) is aFrenchphysicist. She is a commander of theLégion d'honneur, "secrétaire perpétuel honoraire" of theAcadémie des sciences and former president of theCNRS ("National Centre for Scientific Research").[1]The Times says she has "a formidable reputation for determination, decisiveness and an aptitude for analysing and clarifying complex matters."[2] As a president of theCNRS, she was responsible for 25,000 employees, 12,000 of whom are researchers, and a budget of 2.42 billionEuros.[2]
Daughter of the physicistJean Teillac, Catherine Bréchignac entered theÉcole Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses in 1967, she received herDEA (Masters-level qualification) at theFaculté 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 withClaude Allègre, the minister at the time, over reforms she oversaw at the institution.[3] She became President of theInstitut d'optique théorique et appliquée ("Institute of Optical Theory and Practice") in 2003 and of thePalais de la découverte ("Palace of Discovery") in 2004. In 2005, she was elected future president of theInternational Council for Science (ICSU).[4] She was appointed President of the CNRS at the Council of Ministers of 11 January 2006 on the recommendation ofFrançois Goulard, theminister for higher education and research.[5][6] She was replaced byAlain Fuchs in 2010, even though she was a candidate to her own succession.[7] She was "secrétaire perpétuel" (permanent secretary) of the Académie des sciences, Division 1,[8] from 2011 to 2018.[9]
According to the International Council for Science, Bréchignac co-founded the field ofcluster physics, which straddles the gap between atomic, molecular and solid-state physics.[4] Clusters are "the precursors of nano-objects."[4]
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