Chairman & CEO, CEA
François Jacq studied at Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines in Paris. He holds a degree in sociology and a PhD in history of science. He is a civil servant and a member of the Corps des Mines.
He was researcher and lecturer at the Centre de sociologie de l’innovation (Ecole des Mines de Paris).
He has been Head of Energy, Environment, Transports and Natural Resources Department at the French Ministry of Research, in charge of overseeing the relevant research organisations and the implementation of national research incentive programs.
In 2000, François Jacq became chief executive officer of the French Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA). He led the research program on deep geological disposal and set up the French Underground Research Laboratory in Bure.
In 2005, he joined the General Directorate for Energy and Raw Materials at the Ministry of Industry as Head of the Directorate for Energy Demand and Energy Markets. He has been member of the Board of directors of EDF. He was in charge of the French policy for renewable energy development.
Between 2007 and 2009, he was adviser to the Prime Minister for Sustainable Development, Research and Industry.
In April 2009, F. Jacq joined Météo-France, the French national meteorological service, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Permanent Representative of France with World Meteorological Organization. He was also President of the council of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the world leading meteorological organization. He was member of the Board of directors of the France space agency (CNES) for eight years.
He was appointed as Chairman and CEO of Ifremer, the French national institute for marine science and technology, in September 2013. During his term, he conducted the process of unification of the French oceanographic fleet under Ifremer’s leadership. He was President of the French research Alliance for environmental sciences (Allenvi) and also member of the Board of directors of the French National Research Agency (ANR).
Since April 2018, he is Chairman and CEO of CEA (20000 staff, 5 B€ budget), the leading French Research and Technology Organization (RTO). He is also member of the Board of directors of ORANO and SOITEC. He is the French representative to CERN and ITER. He is the President of the French research alliance for energy research (ANCRE). He is Vice-President of EARTO, the European network of RTOs since 2021.