At 52, François Jacq, formerly CEO of Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, has been appointed Chairman of the CEA.
François Jacq is a former student of École Polytechnique with a PhD from MINES ParisTech and a Corps des Mines engineer.
He began his career as a researcher at the Center for the Sociology of Innovation of MINES ParisTech from 1993 to 1996. He then joined the French Ministry for Research. From 1996 to 1997, he was policy officer at the Directorate-General for Research and Technology, before being appointed Head of the Energy, Transport, Environment and Natural Resources Department.
In 2000, François Jacq became Director-General of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra). He was appointed Director for Demand and Energy Markets at the Directorate-General for Energy and Raw Materials under the Ministry for Industry in 2005.
In May 2007, he was appointed Advisor for Industry, Research and Energy to the Cabinet of Prime Minister François Fillon, before becoming Advisor for Sustainable Development, Research and Industry in August 2008.
In April 2009, he was appointed CEO of Météo France. He chaired the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) from 2010 to 2013.
Since 2016, he is chairman of AllEnvi, the National Alliance for Environmental Research.