Reactions to the passing of Alain Fuchs, former President of CNRS and Université PSL (France)

"A visionary, inspirational leader passes away. I am truly saddened by the passing of Alain Fuchs. I have admired Alain for many years, first from a distance, but more recently also from within The Guild", writes Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General at The Guild, on LinkedIn on 11/12/2024.

Alain Fuchs died during the night between 7/12/2024 and 08/12/2024.

A graduate engineer from EPFL and a doctor of the University of Paris Sud (now Paris Saclay), Alain Fuchs was a professor of chemistry. He headed several research laboratories at Paris-Sud, before becoming director of the ChimieParisTech school in 2006, and then president of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) in 2010.

In October 2017, he was elected President of PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) and worked with the members to transform the university into an experimental entity, i.e. a grouping of universities and "grandes écoles" to give them a legal existence and greater international visibility.

At the end of 2022, he succeeded in obtaining the title of ‘grand établissement’ for what has since become ‘Universit…