Men already committed

"Scientific advances will never reach their full potential to do good for humanity if half of the population’s insights and wisdom continues to be ignored and under-valued by the scientific enterprise. The “Male Champions for Women in Science” initiative is the simple recognition that any man truly interested in advancing science needs to be truly dedicated to women in science."

Paul Anastas is a scientist, inventor, author, entrepreneur, and public servant from the United States.

Dr. Anastas has served in three U.S. Presidential Administrations including the appointment by President Barack Obama as the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development at the US Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under Presidents Clinton and Bush. Known as the “Father of Green Chemistry“ he is credited with establishing the field of green chemistry in 1991 and he has been internationally recognized for his advancement of the field

Professor Paul Anastas currently holds the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Chair in Chemistry for the Environment at Yale University and is the founding Director of the Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering at Yale. Dr. Anastas has appointments at Yale’s School of Medicine and Public Health, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Department of Chemistry, School of Management, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Trained as a synthetic organic chemist, Dr. Anastas received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University, co-founded the not-for-profit Green Chemistry Institute and 4 companies based on sustainable technologies

Dr. Anastas has published widely on topics of science through sustainability including over 150 research papers and 14 books, such as Benign by Design, Designing Safer Polymers, Green Engineering, and his seminal work with co-author John Warner, Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice.

Yvon Berland is a university professor and hospital practitioner, he has been at the head of the Aix-Marseille University since its creation in January 2012. He was previously President of the University of the Mediterranean (Aix-Marseille 2) since 2004.

Re-elected Chairman of the CPU Health Commission (Conference of University Presidents) on 15th December 2016 (elected in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), Yvon Berland was Vice Chairman of the CPU from 2010 to 2012. He also chaired the PRES Aix-Marseille University for one year (September 2008-September 2009).

As an intern in Marseille’s hospitals, he obtained his doctorate in medicine in 1979. He was appointed university professor and hospital practitioner in 1988 and took over as head of the hemodialysis nephrology department at the Sainte-Marguerite Hospital. Then, in 2000, he becomes the head of the renal nephrology, dialysis and transplantation department at the Conception Hospital. He has also been the coordinating doctor of the Marseille clinical investigation centre since 1995.

Dean of the Marseille Faculty of Medicine in 1998, he was vice-president of the conference of medical deans in 2002. He is also Chairman of the Biomedical and Health Research Committee of the Marseille Public Hospitals (AP-HM). Since 2002, he has been producing regular reports on the demographics of the health professions for the Ministry of Health. He has chaired the ONDPS (National Observatory for Health Professions) since 2003.

Yvon Berland is a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour, a Knight in the National Order of Merit, an officer in the Order of Academic Palms, a gold medal for Youth and Sports and a gold medal for the Hôpitaux de Marseille.

Éric Berton, 55, is President of Aix-Marseille University, elected on Monday, January 6, 2020. D. in fluid mechanics (former University of Aix-Marseille-II, 1992), Éric Berton did two years of post-doctoral work at CNRS and Eurocopter. In 1994, he was recruited as a research fellow at CNRS. His work on "3D unsteady flows around moving models" earned him the CNRS bronze medal in 2000. In 2001, he defended a habilitation to direct research.
Continuing his career as a researcher at the CNRS, Eric Berton was appointed as a project manager in the SPI department (sciences for engineers) from 2003 to 2006. He joined the UMR "Mouvement et perception" (CNRS/ex-university of Aix-Marseille-II) where he created a research team within which he developed work in the field of muscular biomechanics and biomechanics of movement.
In 2005, Eric Berton was appointed as a university professor. He created a master's degree in movement engineering and ergonomics and also undertook to develop relations between companies and Aix-Marseille-II, with the creation in 2008 of a chair of excellence involving the industrial group Oxylane. He also launched, within the university's foundation, a chair in "Engineering, innovation and ergonomics of sports products" which funds research projects in the field of sports and technologies for aging.
In 2010, Eric Berton became dean of the Faculty of Sports Sciences in Marseille. In January 2012, he joined the governance of the merged University of Aix-Marseille as Vice President of Valorization and Innovation, and became Director of the Institute of Movement Sciences (UMR AMU/CNRS). In 2019, he created the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs d'Aix Marseille (CISAM), which brings together the entire innovation eco-system of the Aix Marseille Provence metropolis. Éric Berton is also president of the two AMU business incubators: Impulse (since 2012) and Belle de Mai (since 2015).

In brief :
Eric Berton elected President of Aix-Marseille University on Monday, January 6, 2020.
UNIVERSITY POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
President of Aix-Marseille University - January 2020
Vice President of Innovation and Valorization of Aix-Marseille University (Jan. 2012 - Jan. 2020)
Dean of the Faculty of Sport Sciences of Aix-Marseille University (Feb. 2010 - Dec. 2019). 
DISTINCTIONS
CNRS Bronze Medal (2000)
Medal of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Association of France (1998)
Medal of the University of the Mediterranean (2000)
Knight in the order of Palmes Académiques (2010)
Knight in the order of the Legion of Honor (2015).
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Director of the Institute of Movement Sciences (ISM) E.J. Marey, - UMR 7287 - Aix Marseille University/CNRS
Professor of Universities, exceptional class Holder of the PEDR

"A commitment for women: they are more than half of humanity and not respected as they should! And even often, little girls do not go to school! Women have a perception and sensitivity that are often more relevant than men. They also have solutions we do not have. So let's restore the original justice and help them fully express their qualities!"

Gilles Boeuf is a professor at the University Pierre et Marie Curie/Sorbonne Université (UPMC) where he carries out his research within the research team "Integrative Biology of marine organisms" at the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls (OOB), in the Pyreneans, on the Mediterranean Sea. He is also the chairman of the Scientific Board of the French Agency for Biodiversity.

He spent 20 years at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) in Brest, he was director of OOB, the Arago Laboratory (Pierre & Marie Curie University and French National Center for Scientific Research “CNRS”), then director of the research team «Models in cell and evolutionary biology» for 4 years. From 2009 to 2015 he was chairman of the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris. He was also invited to teach "Sustainable Development, energies, environment and societies" at the Collège de France for the academic year 2013-2014, devoting his lessons to the subject of "Biodiversity and its interrelationship with humankind". From 2015 to 2017, he was a scientific advisor for Life and Wildlife Sciences, Climate and Ocean for Ségolène Royal, Minister of Environment, Energy and Sea.

Since July 2015, Khaled Bouabdallah has been President of the Université de Lyon, the second most important scientific hub in France, that encompasses universities, prestigious higher education institutions and research bodies in Lyon and Saint-Étienne site.

University professor and economist, Khaled Bouabdallah is a specialist in labor market micro-economics and territorial economic development. He was head of the Higher Institute for Economy, Administration and Management (IAE Saint-Étienne) from 2003 to 2006, as well as the technological research team on Territorial Engineering from 2001 to 2010.

President of the Université Jean-Monnet in Saint-Étienne from 2007 to 2015, he was at the same time re-elected Vice-President of the Conference of university Presidents (CPU) in 2014.

Representative of the CPU on the board of directors for Campus France, he is also a member of the AUF (Francophone University Association) board of directors, and of the supervisory committee for the law on the reform of the French public-school system.

Khaled Bouabdallah is a Knight of the French National Order of Merit and a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.

Jeanick Brisswalter has been a University Professor at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis since 2010. After a doctorate in physiology at the physiology laboratory adaptations of Paris V, he began his career as a researcher in the laboratory of physiology and biomechanics at the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance where he remained for eleven years. 

Then, he later on became a lecturer at the University of Poitiers, as well as a Professor. He joined the University of Toulon in 1999, where he directed the laboratory of sports ergonomics before joining the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, where he founded and now directs the human motricity laboratory, sport health expertise. 

His research focuses on the management of substrates during exercise and their relation to cerebral functioning in application to high sport level of performance or again. 

He has published numerous international articles in the fields of physiology of exercise, neuroscience and psychophysiology. He is an expert for several national assessment bodies and committees, as well as international organizations in the fields of Health Sciences, Public Health, and Sports Sciences. 

He was Dean of the Faculty of Sports Sciences from 2014 to 2016, when he took the responsibility of Vice-President of the Research Commission of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, and Vice-President Research of the CoMue University Côte d’Azur. 

He was elected President of the University Côte d’Azur on January 9th, 2020, and became the first President of this experimental university, one of the nine universities labelled “Universities of excellence in research with strong international influence across France”.  

"To advance science and advance society, we need more women to get involved and promoted in science. In higher education, as everywhere else, we need to take action to value their potential and promote their achievements."

Jean Chambaz is President at the Sorbonne Université. He became President of Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC) in March 2012. In March 2016, he was reelected for a second term that concluded in 2017.

A Professor of Cellular Biology at Pierre and Marie Curie Faculty of Medicine, Jean Chambaz was head of Endocrine Biochemistry at La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. In 1999, he created a joint INSERM-UPMC research unit in the field of Metabolism and Intestinal Differentiation, which in 2007 merged with the Cordeliers Research Center, of which he became deputy director.

In 2005, he created the Institute of Doctoral Education at UPMC. From 2008 to 2011, he presided over the Council for Doctoral Education of the European University Association (EUA). He was elected to the EUA board in 2015. Since November 2014, he has been President of the Coordination of French Research-Intensive Universities (CURIF).

"Diverse workforces enhance productivity, creativity and profitability. To that end creating the conditions for many more talented women to join and remain in scientific research is a priority."

Professor Mark W.J. Ferguson commenced as Director General of Science Foundation Ireland in January 2012 and as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland in October 2012. Professor Ferguson is a founding member of the Small Advanced Economies Initiative, was Chair of the eHealth Ireland Committee, (2015 – 2017) and a member of the EU High Level Expert Group on Horizon 2020 Impact (2017) and has been involved in a number of international reviews of R&D systems, including Hungary and Canada. Previously, he was Professor in Life Sciences at the University of Manchester (since 1984) and co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Renovo Group plc (1998-2011).

He is the recipient of numerous international research awards including the 2002 European Science Prize (jointly), and is the author of 327 research papers and book chapters, 60 patent families and author / editor of 8 books.

Mark graduated from the Queens University of Belfast with degrees in Dentistry (BDS 1st class honours), Anatomy and Embryology (BSc 1st class honours, PhD) and Medical Sciences (DMedSc), holds Fellowships from the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Ireland (FFD), and Edinburgh (FDS) and is a Founding Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). He is a member or Fellow of a number of learned Societies, and was made a “Commander of the British Empire” (CBE) by the Queen in 1999 for services to Health and Life Sciences.

He studied chemistry at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and received his PhD in physical chemistry at the University Paris-Sud, Orsay France in 1983. After a postdoctoral stay at the University of Edinburgh, he was appointed as a research fellow at the french Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). He became Professor of chemistry at Université Paris-Sud in 1996 and director of the École de Chimie-Paris, a graduate school of Chemistry and Chemical Engineer, in 2006. He was appointed in 2010 as the President and CEO of CNRS. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the Academia Europea. His research activity is devoted to the modelling and theory of fluids confined in nanoporous materials.

"Sustainable development is only possible if we rely on all contributing members of our community; making it our moral and ethical responsibility to provide equal opportunities for both men and women. Believing also that scientific research is the main engine for building a knowledge economy and a community free of violence, extremism, and discrimination."

M. Hamzé obtained his “Doctorat d’Etat - Es Sciences” from the University of Montpellier, France. He started his academic career at the Lebanese University where he established the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and acted as Dean of the faculty from 1985 to1997. He was acting concurrently as Chairman of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute.

In 1998, M. Hamzé was appointed Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research – Lebanon (CNRS-L). He has since given special attention to launching and enhancing new programs including: the Ph.D. Scholarship Program, the Grant Research Program, and the Associated Research Units Program; as well as established the CNRS-L Lebanese Science Journal and acts as its editor-in-chief. In 2011, he established the CNRS-L Annual Research Excellence Award, which recognizes scientists who excel in conducting research in different scientific disciplines in Lebanon. M. Hamzé has also developed and implemented a fundamental science policy programme (Science Technology & Innovation Policy –STIP). While in 2016 he has lead an initiative to develop the Charter of Ethics and Guiding Principles of Scientific Research in Lebanon (signed by 19 universities and adopted as an integral part of all CNRS-L Programmes) for defining basic principles of ethics and regulations for a responsible conduct of research in the different disciplines of science. The charter was also recently confirmed as a basis for a regional Arab charter.

In recognition of his work, M. Hamzé received two Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Haute Alsace and from the University of Montpellier and was distinguishly awarded from France and Italy.

François Houllier has been CEO of the IFREMER (The French Institute for Sea Research and Exploitation) since September 2018. After graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique and getting a PhD in forest biometrics, François Houllier began his career as project manager in forest resources assessment at the IFN (National Forest Inventory). He then became professor at the ENGREF (The National School of Rural Engineering of Waters and Forests) and later became director of the French Institute of Pondichery, India, from 1994 to 1997. He then took the head of the joint research center “Botany and bioinformatics of the plants architecture” (Cirad, CNRS, INRA, IRD and University Montpellier II) until 2002. He also held different leadership positions at the INRA (The National Institute for Agronomic Research) and then became CEO of the INRA from July 2012 to July 2016. François Houllier chaired the community of universities and institutions University Sorbonne Paris Cité and he held the “Université de Paris” excellence initiative, selected in March 2018.

Born in 1958, Etienne Klein is physicist at CEA, the French Atomic Energy Commission, at Saclay near Paris.

Since 2007, he is the Director of the Research Laboratory on Matter Sciences at CEA (LARSIM). His research interests include the foundations of physics, the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the question of time in physics and the relationship between science and society.

He is professor at Ecole Centrale de Paris, both in physics and philosophy of science. He is member of the French Academy of Technologies.

Philippe Kourilsky graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris in 1964. He started research in biology in 1965. A member of CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), he joined the Pasteur Institute in 1972. His major scientific achievements are in the fields of molecular Genetics and Immunology. From 1998 to 2012, he held the chair of Molecular Immunology at the College de France. He has also been involved in Biotechnologies and in the administration of research. In 1981, he was the co-founder of Transgène, the first large french biotech company. From 1993 to 1996, he was the Director of Research of the Pasteur Mérieux Connaught vaccine company (now Sanofi-Pasteur). From 2000-2005, he was appointed Director General of the Pasteur Institute and chaired the International network of Pasteur Institutes. He has been sitting on several Boards of Directors (including those of Ecole Polytechnique and Veolia Environment). From 2006 to 2013, he has created and chaired the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN). In 2012, he created and currently chairs the NGO "Resolis".

He is the author of close to 400 publications in international scientific journals and has written several books dealing with science and the public, (for example on the precautionary principle).

He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and a Professor Honoris causa of several universities, as well as a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour and in the National Order of Merit.

A graduate from the University of Kiel in Germany and a specialist in verification of programs and provable security, in logics and calculation models, Yassine Lakhnech is Professor of the University of Grenoble-Alps. 

He was involved in the construction of several structuring projects on site, including the Labex Persyval-lab, the PILSI campus operation, and the University of Excellence Initiative of Grenoble-Alps. 

He has assumed numerous responsibilities in trainings, as deputy Vice-President of Research at the University of Joseph Fourier, as Vice-President of Research at the UJF executive, and as Director of the Research and Development component of the Initiative of Excellence. 

Yassine Lakhnech was elected President of the University of Grenoble-Alps for a four-year mandate. 

"Science should be inspired and done by women in any country in the world. This is needed for science quality. It is critical for social and cultural development."

Patrick Lévy is currently Rector of Grenoble Alpes University (2018-2019). He has been Rector of Joseph Fourier University (2012-2015) and of Grenoble University Community (2016-17). He is professor of Physiology, MD, respiratory physician, graduated with a Master degree in Animal Physiology (1986) and a PhD in Physiology (1989). He led the Pulmonary Function Test Unit, Sleep Lab (1988-2012) and Clinical Research Department (2000-2012) at Grenoble University Hospital. He has been the head of the Hypoxia Pathophysiology Laboratory (HP2) at Grenoble Alpes University and Inserm (2003-2015) and set one of the most active Research Laboratory on Obstructive Sleep Apnea worldwide. He led the project named Grenoble Alpes University – Initiative of Excellence, an ambitious vision for establishing a large research and multidisciplinary University in Grenoble and the Alpes, reaching a critical mass and improving its international visibility.

"Science is an international adventure without any borders, the same passion for research animates women and men which make ignorance step back."

Professor Daniel Louvard was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry in 1973 and Physical Sciences in 1976 from the University of Marseille. From 1978 to 1982 he was head of a team at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany), after which he joined the Institut Pasteur, where from 1988 to 1990 he was the Director of the Molecular Biology Department, and since 1987 has been Professor. He was Director of Research CNRS (1986-2013) and Director of the Research Center of the Institut Curie (1993-2013). He is now Emeritus Director of Research CNRS, Honorary Professor Institut Pasteur, Honorary Director Institut Curie, Advisor of the President of the Board of Directors of Institut Curie for International affairs. In 2014 and 2015 he was on sabbatical leave as a visiting scientist at Biogen (Cambridge,USA).

Prof. Louvard was also head of the Morphogenesis and Cell Signaling Laboratory Institut Curie / CNRS UMR 144(1995-2013). He served as member of numerous scientific committees of the CNRS and the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), ad hoc committees and scientific organizations such as EMBO and the Scientific Committee of the Human Frontier Science Program, ERC panel member for advanced grants.

He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences (2003), European Academy of Sciences (1995), the Academia Europa (1997), the European Academy of Cancer Sciences (2013) and is a Foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2014).

"It is unfathomable for us as scientists driven by rational reasoning not to fully support the advancement of women is science, as we would be giving away half of our collective brain power."

Khaled Machaca is Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine and serves as Associate Dean for Research for the Qatar campus since 2008. In that capacity he oversees the academic, financial, operational and compliance aspects of the research department, which currently encompasses 25 active Labs and a staff of over 200 people. Khaled oversaw the establishment of the administrative and regulatory infrastructure; centralized core laboratories; and faculty recruitment. He also serves as the designated institutional official overseeing the animal research program and as the director of the imaging core. He leads and serves on multiple institutional, national and international committees.

The Machaca Lab is interested in intracellular signaling processes under physiological and pathological conditions with a focus on calcium signaling. Our goal is to better define these signaling pathway at the cellular and molecular levels to better define the underlying biology and identify potential therapeutic targets in various disease states. Our interest is focused on cell cycle regulation in the context of cancer, hypertension, and immune cell activation. Work from the Machaca Lab has been published in leading biomedical journals and garnered continuous extramural funding from NIH and the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).

Khaled serves of several editorial boards, reviews widely for scientific journals and has an extensive track record of training students and postdoctoral fellows.

"I am particularly pleased to contribute to L'Oréal's initiative as my closest associate for many years, with whom I shared the leadership of the enzymatic catalysis and molecular engineering team and who succeeded me, was a woman: Professor Magali Remaud-Simeon. I want to pay tribute, through her, to the importance and impressive efficiency and creativity of women in the field of scientific research."

Pierre Monsan is Professor Emeritus at the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA) of the University of Toulouse. He was elected member of the French University Institute (IUF) in 2003 and re-elected in 2008.

He is Founding Director of the pre-industrial demonstrator “Toulouse White Biotechnology" (TWB), which was granted €20 million within the frame of the French National Program “Investissement d’avenir” in March 2011.

He has been active for 44 years in the field of enzyme catalysis (enzyme production, purification, immobilization and application, screening, structural characterization and molecular design). He authored more than 240 scientific publications, 3 books and 65 patents. His H-factor is 44.

He was involved in the founding of several start-up companies: BioEurope (1984), BioTrade (1996), Genibio (1998) and in the move of LibraGen from Lyon to Toulouse (2004).

He is member of the Scientific Advisory Board of several companies, founding member of the French Academy of Technology, member of the French National Academy of Agriculture, member of several Scientific Societies and member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is Chairman of the French Federation of Biotechnology (FFBiotech) and member of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).

Antoine Petit obtained a master’s degree in Mathematics from University Paris Sud (1981) and then an Agrégation de Mathématiques (1982). He received his PhD in Computer Science from Paris Diderot University (1985).

He joined University d’Orléans as Assistant in 1984, then University Paris Sud as Maître de Conférences in 1989. He became full Professor at ENS Paris - Saclay in 1994 where he has been head of the Computer Science department from 1995 to 2001.

In 2002, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the directorate of research of French ministry of research, in charge of Mathematics and Communication Sciences. In 2004, he joined CNRS as Director of the Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies department and then as Regional Director for South West of France.

In 2006, he was recruited by the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (Inria) where he has been successively Director of the research center of Paris - Rocquencourt, deputy CEO in 2010 and then President and CEO in 2014.

Antoine Petit is a Knight of the Legion of Honour and the French National Order of Merit.

His research focuses on the biological, social and technical evolution of the human lineage. After having introduced Ethology in Anthropology, he became involved in questions of society and Ethics, for the defense of secularism, on politics and innovation in relation to the entrepreneurial culture. His last essays are interested in the future of humanity between the collapse of diversities and the arrival of intelligent machines by analyzing the emergence of a new Anthropology in the Digital Age.

Johan Rockström is an internationally recognized scientist for his work on global sustainability issues. He helped lead the internationally renowned team of scientists that presented the planetary boundaries framework, first published in 2009, with an update in 2015. The nine planetary boundaries presented in the framework are argued to be fundamental in maintaining a “safe operating space for humanity.” This framework has been embraced as an approach to sustainable development, and has been used to help guide governments, international organizations, NGOs, and companies considering sustainable development.

Before focusing on the planetary scale, Rockström’s research aimed to address building resilience in water scarce regions, and he is an expert on water resources. After completing a PhD at Stockholm University’s Systems Ecology Department in 1997, he spent nearly two decades working on applied water research in tropical regions. He has also published research on agriculture systems, land use, and ecosystem services.

Aside from his research helping to guide policy, Rockström acts as an advisor to several governments and business networks. He also acts as an advisor for sustainable development issues at noteworthy international meetings, such as the United Nations General Assemblies, World Economic Forums, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences (UNFCCC, also known as COP).

"There are no other human attributes, out of the diversity of opinion, the freedom of thought and the experimental demonstration, that are essential for the scientific development in any part of the world. As in any other human activities, scientific thinking should be cultivated from the early ages in schools and laboratories that should ensure the free access of women and men. Our society, universities and research centers should warrant equal development opportunities and leadership positions without any other condition than demonstration of excellence in a personal scientific career."

Dr. Rojas-Martínez pioneered the implementation of clinical trials of gene and cell therapy in Mexico and Latin America. In addition, he has contributed to the delineation of some genetic diseases and the implementation of GWAS for cleft lip and palate and colorectal cancer in the Mexican population, as well as pharmacogenomics projects in the same population. He belongs to the Mexican System of Researchers, the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Mexican Board of Genetics, and the Mexican Association of Human Genetics, in which he served as President. Dr. Rojas-Martínez was also the Coordinator of the Mexican Node of the Human Variome Project (2012 – 2017). He is Past-President of the Latin American Network of Human Genetics (RELAGH). He currently serves as member of the Scientific Committee of the Latin American School of Human Genetics (ELAG, Brazil, since 2008), the External Scientific Advisory Committee of CIBER-ER (Spain, since 2016). He has published over 92 scientific articles and has a granted patent.

Since 2015, Dr. Rojas-Martínez is a jury member of the L' Oréal -UNESCO For Women in Science International award.

"Because science and society need to mobilize all intelligences and all eyes."

François Taddei is a researcher in evolutionary systems Biology and an expert on the future of research and education. He has created bachelor, master & PhD programs in the Center for Research and Interdisciplinary in Paris in order to empower the new generations of change makers by training them through research at the frontiers of disciplines. He has taken the lead of the Institute for Learning Through Research that has been selected in March 2012 by the International Scientific Committee of the National Innovative Training Program (IDEFI) of the French ministry of research. He participates in various working groups on the future of research and education (France 2025, OECD report…). He also holds the UNESCO Chair “Learning sciences”. In September 2016, the mission to organise and think the future of R&D for Lifelong learning was entrusted to François Taddei by French Minister of Education, Higher Education & Research.

“An inclusive, responsible university, open to society, welcoming and committed to its home region… thereby obliging us to set even higher standards in carrying out our missions.”

Manuel Tunon de Lara studied Medicine, Immunology, Physiology and Life Sciences. He then carried out research into the cellular mechanisms of asthma. He was a clinician in the respiratory diseases department of Bordeaux University Hospital, of which he then became director. Manuel Tunon de Lara became involved in the institutional aspects of Bordeaux Segalen University and from 1998 he ran the “Aquitaine Euskadi Navarre” cross-border network. In 2001 he set up the Department of European Affairs and International Relations before becoming Vice-President of the university responsible for international relations in 2003. He was elected president of Bordeaux Segalen University in 2008, then reelected in 2012. During his terms of office, he contributed actively to the Campus Operation project, led the project to set up the Bordeaux University Foundation and coordinated “Investment for the Future” projects, including the excellence initiative (IdEx) that was among the first three such projects to be accredited in France. Championing the values of a large, multidisciplinary, internationally recognized university, Manuel Tunon de Lara led his establishment towards a merger with two other universities in the city thus creating the University of Bordeaux with his counterparts. In January 2014, he was elected the first president of the new establishment and, together with his team, set up what has become one of France’s top universities. Under his leadership, the University of Bordeaux was definitively “excellence initiative” accredited by an international jury in June 2016, and continues to energetically pursue the objective of becoming a great European university, while remaining anchored in the Aquitaine region. 

A man of commitment and conviction, he is an Officer of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Chevalier of the National Order of Merit and Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor.

"It is not acceptable that only men are in charge of giving birth to the world of tomorrow."

Cédric Villani is a French mathematician and a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He received a doctorate in Mathematics and he is the winner of the Fields Medal in 2010 and of the Doob price in 2014. He is now professor at the University of Lyon. He has been the director of the Institute Henri Poincaré in Paris from 2009 to 2017. He has held various visiting positions at several foreign universities. He is Member of the National Assembly for the Fifth Constituency of the Essonne and he is vice-president of the Parliamentary office for Scientific and Technological Options Assessment (OPECST). He is member of the Academy of Sciences and has published several books, including Alive Theorem, which has been translated in 12 languages.

"The time for men to realise that gender parity benefits everyone is long overdue."

Professor Tom Welton is the world’s first Professor of Sustainable Chemistry. He began his academic career with a B.Sc. at the University of Sussex followed by a D.Phil., in the Chemistry and Spectroscopy of Ionic Liquids.

After research positions at the University of Sussex and the University of Exeter he joined the Chemistry Department at Imperial College London in 1993 as a Lloyd’s of London Tercentenary Fellow. In 2002 he was awarded a Readership in Catalysis and undertook the role of Director of Undergraduate Studies in Chemistry. In 2004 he was promoted to Professor in Sustainable Chemistry. He was Head of the Chemistry Department from August 2007 to December 2014, during which time the Department achieved an Athena Swan Gold Award. He became Dean of the Faculty in January 2015.

Tom uses solvents to improve chemical processes. He has worked with ionic liquids throughout his career, in order to develop sustainable solvent technologies. The central academic aim of his research is to understand the role that the immediate chemical environments in which reacting species find themselves influence the reaction process. He also aims to use this understanding to provide more effective chemical processes by the matching of the reaction with its optimum solvent environment.

Tom is the author of over 100 papers, primarily on the structures and chemistry of ionic liquids and their solutes. He was the 2007 RSC Christopher Ingold Lecturer, the 2012 RSC Thomas Graham Lecturer, and the 2011 DFG Paul Walden Lecturer. He is an Honorary Member of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia. In June 2017 Tom was awarded an OBE for his services to diversity in education.