June 12, 1946 – Birth of Catherine Bréchignac, a specialist in atomic physics

French physicist Catherine Bréchignac was born in Paris on June 12, 1946. The daughter of Jean Teillac, also a physicist, she studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Fontenay-aux-Roses and, later, at the Faculté des sciences d'Orsay of the University of Paris. In 1969, she earned her master's degree in physics and, a year later, the Advanced Studies Diploma in quantum physics.

In 1971, she was appointed associate professor of physics, and she was later assigned, until 1984, to the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique. There she carried out research tasks at the Aimé Cotton d'Orsay Laboratory, one of the largest laboratories located at the Paris XI University, obtaining in 1977 her doctorate in physical sciences from this university.

In 1989, she became the director of the Aimé Cotton Laboratory. In 1995 she was scientific director of the CNRS Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences for two years, occupying the general direction from 1997 to 2000. In 2003 she was appointed President of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Optics, and of the Palais de la Découverte in 2004. One year later she was elected President of the International Council of Scientific Unions.

From 2006 to 2010 he held the presidency of the CNRS, and of the High Council for Biotechnologies from 2009 to 2010. Bréchignac is a member of the Scientific Council of the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (OPECST) and perpetual secretary of the French Academy of Sciences since 2011.

Catherine Bréchignac specialized in molecular physics and focused most of her research on “The Aggregates of Atoms”. Throughout her extensive career, she has published, as author or co-author, more than 120 articles in scientific journals.